


Faceless Enemy

by dont_hate_me01



Category: NCIS, NCIS AU - Fandom
Genre: Explicit Language, Hurt Tony DiNozzo, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, NCIS Reverse Bang Challenge, canon level violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:15:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 36,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24217987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dont_hate_me01/pseuds/dont_hate_me01
Summary: After the betrayal by his partner, Danny Price, and being accused by Agent Gibbs of being as corrupt as his ex-partner, Detective DiNozzo joins the Washington P.D. as an undercover cop. He immerses himself in an undercover operation that is running for more than four years.He crosses paths with the NCIS agent again when he is accused of murdering a Navy Lieutenant Commander. Between working for an arms dealer, and having NCIS on his back, DiNozzo needs to keep his head in the game. He has to complete the operation and make sure he stays alive till the end to unmask the real murderer.
Relationships: Jethro Gibbs/Anthony DiNozzo (Pre-slash)
Comments: 62
Kudos: 223
Collections: 2020 NCIS Reverse Bang





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rose_malmaison](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rose_malmaison/gifts).



> **AN 1:** To, [rose_malmaison](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rose_malmaison) who is responsible for the amazing piece of art which inspired me to write this story, thank you! It’s always a huge honor to work with you.
> 
>  **AN 2:** To, [jesco0307](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jesco0307) who helped me plan this story. She’s the one who always listens to me when I rant on, and who encourages me every step of the way. A mere thank you, never seems to be enough. Once again, you did a fantastic job in shaping this story into something worthwhile to read.
> 
>  **AN 3:** Another thank you to [rose_malmaison](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rose_malmaison) who stepped in and also gave a helping hand with editing side of things. I promise, no more _head cocking_!
> 
>  **AN 4:** To our amazing mod **Solariana** over on LJ, thank you for hosting this wonderful challenge each and every year. It always makes me jump up and down when I see it’s that time again!
> 
>  **AN 5:** Lastly, all remaining mistakes, medical and otherwise remains mine.

“You can’t go in without a wire.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? There’s no way I’m doing this with a wire! This is not the final meet. If they find the wire, I’m dead and we’re screwed.”

“They won’t search you. Hell, you’re one of only two men that they won’t search,” Ezra tried again. Although, he had little hope to convince the man with him.

Dominique scoffed. “Yes, I know that. But it doesn’t change anything. No wire.”

“And if I ordered you?” Ezra tried a different approach.

Dominique burst out laughing. “You can try, but you know as well as I do, I don’t listen to you. You’ll be wasting your breath.” He reached for his shirt.

“There would be no accurate transcripts of the meet if you don’t have a wire.”

Dominique cocked his head and then shook it. “Eidetic memory.” He pointed at his own head. “As if you didn’t know.”

“Tony.”

He didn’t respond and the man seated on the couch sighed.

“Dominique,” Ezra made another attempt.

“What?” Dominique turned around.

“It’s too dangerous.”

Dominique laughed. “Wait, now you’re not making sense. I just told you, it’s too dangerous for me to go in with a wire, now you’re saying it’s too dangerous if I don’t go in with a wire. I’ve been undercover for four years on this case, Ezra. Not once did I use a wire. We used the video surveillance with that audio, and it was enough. Why do you want me to use one? Why? What has changed? What are you not telling me?” An uneasiness settled in his stomach.

“There’s a new ADA on the case. She’s not happy with your notes.”

“What?” Dominique frowned. “It’s not only my notes. We’ve got more than one meeting on video. With those meetings alone, we’ve managed to catch some other players along the way as well. So why now?”

“I don’t know why. But she’s of the opinion that with no wire, we don’t have any proof that what you’re saying is the truth.”

“And yet, each piece of info I’ve given you on my _word_ only, has given us more. Has taken me closer to our end target. How does she think long term undercover projects are run? Or does she think that every time we go out and put this mask on and become our alter ego, we wear a wire? Fucking stupid.” Dominique dragged his hand through his spiky hair. His watch pinged and he looked at the man across from him.

“I need to get going.”

Ezra knew that he wouldn’t be able to convince his friend to wear a wire. He understood why as well. It was Tony who placed his life on the line, not him, and certainly not the new ADA who tried making a name for herself. He nodded and approached the man known to him as Tony DiNozzo, but who for the last four years had gone by the name Dominique Duarte. The right-hand man for Armando Westrope, an international antiques dealer who dealt more with the shadier things in life than actual antiques. But he had also made a name for himself in the antiques scene and had some high-placed friends around the world.

Westrope also had a thing for the opera, and, apparently, he had the voice to perform them as well. He liked travelling the world and going to various opera houses to attend all the classic ones. That had earned him the nickname the Phantom.

“You keep safe out there.” Ezra pulled Tony into a hug and held him hard. He got a nod against his shoulder before the younger man pulled away. When Ezra looked at his friend, he saw that it was no longer Tony DiNozzo who stood before him. Instead, it was the arrogant Dominique. A man who Ezra would love to punch in the face.

“You will let yourself out.” Dominique turned away. He made sure his sleeves with knives were properly fastened around his forearms before he finally donned his shirt. He hummed a tune under his breath as he reached for a tie.

Ezra merely nodded and headed to the concealed door on the side of the room. He pressed his palm against it and when it slid open, he stepped out. It brought him to a tunnel which went on for at least half a mile, before it ended at another door. This door also scanned his palm print before he exited in a non-descript single story house. Very few people knew about the door, or where it led to. Ezra hadn’t even disclosed the location to the higher ups read into the operation.

He checked the surveillance cameras outside this house, and those around the property Dominique Duarte used as his residence. Ezra made the necessary notes in the logs before he went to the small kitchen and grabbed something to eat. He would be _on watch_ until Dominique returned from the meeting, after what he would leave to go home, and the backup team would take over.

After he got a bite to eat, Ezra sat down behind the monitors, made another log entry, and started watching the different screens. Not even an hour had passed before he noticed movement in front of the mansion.

“What the fuck?” Ezra took a closer look. Two dark colored sedans came to a halt in front of the house and several persons jumped out. Ezra zoomed in. “NCIS?” he asked out loud when he read the lettering on their tactical vests. “What the fuck?” He repeated his earlier words. Ezra had no choice but to look on as they neared the gate with weapons drawn.

One male scaled the high fence with ease and a few minutes later the large iron gates opened up. The man came back with one of the security officers who guarded the premises. His hands cuffed behind his back. Ezra watched as what appeared to be a heated conversation take place in the street. An older man stepped forward and he brought things to a halt. He shoved a piece of paper against the man’s chest where it floated to the ground. The different men and women got back into their vehicles and drove through the gates. The cuffed guard was placed in a marked police cruiser which had also appeared on the scene. Ezra reached for his phone. Something was wrong and he had to find out what, before Tony got burned, and this four-year operation got blown out of the water.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

Dominique frowned as the phone in his breast pocket continued to ring. He pulled the offending thing out of his pocket. He managed to keep his facial expression schooled as he recognized the number and with a heavy sigh he rose to his feet. “Excuse me for a second, Armando. I need to take this.” Without waiting for a reply, he walked away.

“Duarte,” he answered the call brusquely.

_“Any idea why NCIS would storm your house and are currently ransacking the house from top to bottom?”_

“What?” he hissed. “What do you know?”

_“Still trying to find out what’s going on. At the moment I’m being sent from pillar to post without any answers. I need you to stay away from the house until I tell you it’s safe to return.”_

Dominique took a deep breath. Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement and he turned. “Well, Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore.” He didn’t wait for a reply but ended the call. At the same time several things happened at once.

“NCIS! Hands behind your head, get on your knees!” A woman yelled as she stormed towards Dominique, her weapon pointed at his head.

Dominique raised his hands but remained on his feet. It wasn’t in his nature to take orders from law enforcement, and he wasn’t about to start now. He ignored her and looked on as his bodyguard stepped forward and blocked her with his muscular body. Brandon was a _gift_ from Armando. The man didn’t like the fact that his right-hand man didn’t have someone to look after him. Westrope didn’t care that Dominique could take care of himself.

Brandon didn’t even flinch as she pressed the weapon against his chest. He merely looked down at her and grinned. Dominique managed not to smile at the scene. He wanted to order the man to stand down, when he saw a scuffle had broken out between Westrope’s burly bodyguards and another two agents.

This time he did grin, as Westrope’s lead bodyguard punched a tubby, baby faced agent on the nose before he interlinked his fingers behind his head and went down on his knees. Pete always did have a bit of a temper to him. Armando himself tried to step around to stop the agent to arrest his bodyguard and Dominique sighed as Westrope got himself cuffed for his trouble.

The woman in front of Brandon screeched again, and Dominique tapped Brandon on the shoulder to move out of the way. When Brandon took his place next to him, Dominique merely looked at her with an expression of utter boredom on his face.

“Get on your knees, get on your knees!”

Dominique sighed. “Please.”

“What?” she asked in surprise and even lowered her weapon.

He rolled his eyes. “Manners seem to be something of the past. Have you ever considered asking politely? For me, personally, I find people to be more agreeable to things, if you use the words _please_ and _thank you_.”

The woman scoffed and moved forward, but before she could reach him, a man stepped between them. Tony showed no emotion on his face as the man went toe to toe with him.

“You think you’re a real wise ass, don’t you?”

Dominique remained silent. He did, however smirk. He could see how it maddened the man in front of him.

“Get on your knees.”

Dominque cocked his head. “And the missing word?”

“Get on your fucking knees, or I’ll shoot you in the leg.” The agent yanked him by the shirt and pushed him down onto his knees. Brandon growled beside him and Dominique gave a quick shake of the head. It wouldn’t help anything if Brandon got arrested as well.

The male agent stayed in front of him as the woman moved in behind him. She snatched the phone from his hand before she slammed the metal cuffs around his wrists.

“That’s also a way of doing things. Although, to me that sounds more like police brutality.” He egged the man on in front of him.

“We’re not the police.”

“Ah, okay.” Dominique shrugged. “Federal agent brutality if you want to get technical.” He looked over his shoulder to where the woman placed his phone into an evidence bag. “I’ll need a receipt for that, please.”

They ignored him as he got pulled to his feet. He looked over his shoulder at Brandon. “Make sure Armando stays out of further trouble. Call his attorney to get Armando released.”

“What about you?”

Dominique shrugged. “I’ll take care of this.” He looked over and smiled as Armando stood and argued, or should he say, shouted at a man that by the way he held himself, appeared to be in charge. Armando always had a way of talking with his hands and he looked comical ranting with his hands still cuffed behind his back.

Dominique didn’t have a clear view of the man Armando argued with, except that he had a head of gray hair that begged to be styled properly. That marine cut didn’t do it. For a moment he wondered if the man might’ve been a Marine before. His eyes traveled down, and he found himself staring at a very tight ass. He loved watching men’s asses, and he’d have to say, this one easily made his top ten. Dominique wondered how the rest of the man’s body looked like. Perhaps he hid a six pack beneath that shirt?

Dominique lifted his eyes and found himself staring at a set of the brightest blue eyes he’d ever seen. No, scratch that. He’d seen them once before, and that was more than enough. It seemed like today was one of those days. He waited for the moment recognition settled in them and wondered what tirade would follow. Dominique held his breath. If Gibbs blew his cover, four years of hard work would go down the drain. He might end up punching the guy for that. However, the man only looked at him once before his gaze landed on the man next to him.

“Get him out of here.” Agent Gibbs’ voice vibrated through the room.

Dominique could hear the contempt in the man’s voice as he ordered the agent next to him. Seemed like Gibbs still had that stick shoved up his ass from almost five years back.

“Now wait a damn moment. Where do you think you’re going with Dominique? Why are you here, what do you want? All that you’ve done is to barge in here, demanded that we get on our knees. Then you searched us, cuffed us, but no explanation given. Do you know who I am? I will have all your badges for this!”

None of the NCIS agents bothered to answer Westrope, as they all gathered around Dominique, and escorted him from the Michelin Star restaurant. He was led to a dark sedan and placed in the back seat. The fact that he hit his head on the door didn’t bother any of them.

Dominique noted that it was the female and male agent that cuffed him in the restaurant that drove with him. He leaned back as far as possible and stared at them. The man appeared to be in his late thirties to early forties. He was about five foot ten, to five foot eleven, had dark brown hair with some gray coming through. He had his sleeves rolled up and Dominique could clearly see the muscles in his forearms. The muscles in his left arm were a bit more distinct than those in his right, which brought him to the conclusion that he was left-handed. It would then also explain why his weapon was holstered on the left, instead of the right. Dominique wondered if he’d ever considered wearing a shoulder holster, it would be much more comfortable.

The female, who was driving, appeared to be in her thirties. She had dark chocolate colored hair that hung just below her shoulders. She had a slim build and would stand around five foot six in her socks. She seemed still a bit unsure of herself. Not unsure, like in rookie unsure, but she was still a green agent and he wondered for how long she’d been working at NCIS. The way her right hand drifted to her ear before she lowered it, made him think that she used to have a comms unit in her ear. He wondered where she had been employed before joining NCIS.

The woman snorted. Like in really snorted. It had been a while since he heard a woman do that.

“As if you don’t know.”

The male agent ignored him. It suited him fine.

“Well then, let’s play a game and say I’m suffering from amnesia and I have no idea what you’re talking about. Would you inform me then?”

“Seriously? That’s the way you want to play this?” She shook her head at him and tightened her hold around the steering wheel.

Dominique closed his eyes and counted silently to ten. “Maybe you don’t know yourself. That’s why you don’t want to tell me.”

“What? Of course, we know. Why wouldn’t we?” The woman looked up and glared at him through the rearview mirror.

“Then tell.”

“No.”

Dominique laughed. He held the smirk on his face as he addressed her again. “No, you don’t.” He sighed and continued before she could interrupt him. “It’s bad to be so low down on the totem pole not to be informed. Only told to do your work.”

“What? No. It’s not like that.”

He mentally slapped himself on the shoulder. She was insecure and he had no qualms in using that against her to get what he needed.

“Were you called this morning, given a file and told to hunt down this man, and bring him in?” Dominique sighed again. “Don’t you hate it when you’re treated like that? I had a boss like that one time. Would call me in right at the last moment and give me a job. The information had never been enough for me to complete my work. I always had to scramble around to get more information on my own. I had to check my facts, before I could actually do the task set out for me. I mean, if he’d told me from the beginning, I would’ve known what to do, and when to do it. Luckily, that employment didn’t last long.”

“What work did you do?” The male agent spoke up for the first time.

“Mostly maintenance, you know. Cleanup work. Getting rid of those things that were no longer needed.” Dominique saw the look that passed between the two agents.

“Did you have to do a lot of _maintenance_?”

“Yes.” Dominique nodded. “Almost on a weekly basis. But now it’s much better. Being my own boss means I don’t get my hands so dirty.” He grinned. “But, don’t get me wrong. Sometimes it’s still very satisfying to get down yourself and do the grunt work. Like you guys.”

“Why did you do it?” She’s turned and looked at him over her shoulder.

A frown appeared on Dominique’s face. “Do what?” He kept his voice low.

“Killed Lieutenant Commander Rhys.”

Dominique grinned. When the woman growled at him, he nodded. She’d finally figured out he tricked her into telling him why NCIS was on his case. It would’ve been much easier if she’d told him why they took him. But, since she wanted to play games, he taught her a lesson in playing with the big boys. He blocked out her voice as she ranted about what he’d done. He didn’t give a damn that her ego was bruised. He had two important questions that needed to be answered. One. Who the fuck was Lieutenant Commander Rhys? Two. Why the fuck was NCIS under the impression that he killed the man.

“Shit,” he mumbled under this breath. Tony leaned back and slammed his head against the headrest. He had no idea how the fuck he was going to get out of this mess.


	2. Chapter 2

Gibbs frowned as his team left and he stayed behind. Mr. Westrope had been yapping in his ear and Gibbs had managed to block out the irritating sound of his voice. He knew who the man was. Westrope appeared often in the news, it was hard to miss such an airhead. The man had political clout, but Gibbs had never bothered himself with things like that, and he wasn’t going to start now. Instead, he concentrated on their suspect. The man they had taken into custody looked familiar, but he couldn’t place him. Brent had run this case, as Gibbs had an op to run from MTAC, that had taken him the best of almost three weeks. He had little to none information on the case, and it had been only this morning when Brent had let him know they had a suspect. Because he had to get out of the office, he decided to tag along.

He had ridden with McGee to the scene and let the probie fill him in about the case, and what they had. Lieutenant Commander Rhys had been in the navy since he attended boot camp after high school. The commander worked in logistics and had a stellar record. He had been last seen five weeks ago when he left the office for home. His abandoned car was found more than six miles from his house, in the opposite direction. It was in a pristine condition but wiped clean of any prints. According to McGee not even Abby could find anything useful in the car.

Rhys’ body had been found two weeks later in an open field in the middle of nowhere. Ducky had ruled cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head. He had also been shot through the left knee. By the scuff marks on the victim’s shoes, Ducky reached the conclusion that their dead commander tried to get away by dragging his leg but had then been caught and bludgeoned to death.

That point made Gibbs frown. Why would you first shoot the guy in the knee, but when you kill him, you bash his head in. Something wasn’t adding up. There was another problem as well. They had no idea on how the commander’s body had ended up in that field, which was another three miles from where his car was found. They couldn’t find any tracks to pinpoint a vehicle that might have been used to dump the body.

Abby did find something useful in the samples from under the commander’s fingernails. She found strands of fiber. But no ordinary fibers. It was the rarest natural fibers in the world. According to Abby it was vicuna and it came from llama like animals called the Vicuna. They roamed the Andes mountains and one time were nearly extinct. According to Abby a scarf could be bought for around four thousand dollars – each.

McGee told him that after an extended search, they found only one store in the whole of Washington D.C. that sold vicuna products. It also wasn’t something they stocked, but it had to be ordered and then shipped over to the US. The last vicuna product was a scarf ordered and sold two days before Rhys went missing, and their suspect bought it.

The slug found buried in the commander’s kneecap came from a .38 cartridge. Duarte had a .38 Special revolver registered in his name. They’d also combed through footage of several traffic cams, and Duarte’s Lexus RX 350 was spotted following the commander’s car the night of his disappearance.

“You all right?” he asked McGee after the man took a punch to the nose. Gibbs tilted his probie’s head to inspect his nose and hummed. “Doesn’t appear to be broken. We’ll let Ducky or Gerald to check it out when we’re back at the office.” The bleeding had stopped on its own.

“Yes, Boss.” McGee glared over his shoulder at the man who struck him on the nose. He bristled with anger when the man smirked at him.

“He’s egging you on, McGee. Ignore him.” Gibbs had already glared at the man and he was satisfied when the man took one step back.

“Round them all up and take them in,” Gibbs ordered. He knew the charges wouldn’t stick. Especially not against Westrope himself, but he was never against ruffling a few feathers, so why stop now? He also knew that if Westrope made waves, their director would have their backs and they would be able to continue doing their job.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

**NCIS: Interrogation Room 1**

With his hands now cuffed to the table in front of him, Dominique leaned back and looked around the stark room. He’d already taken note of the two cameras in the top corners of the room and the mirror which he faced. It was a standard interrogation room and he couldn’t help but wonder if every agency, and law enforcement office, retained the same interior decorator for all the rooms. Even the tables and chairs were exactly the same.

When the door to the room opened, he stayed in position. He wasn’t surprised to see that it was the two agents from before. He watched as they took their seats across from him.

Dominique was grateful that he’d learned the art of patience a long time ago as both the agents sat there and stared at him. Neither one uttered a word. He knew what they were trying to do. They wanted him to get nervous, let him break the silence and to start talking. Well, he had news for them. Although he loved talking, and could talk for hours on end, he had no problem in remaining silent. Thinking of silence made him grin (but only on the inside). Not one of them had read him his rights, or even reminded him that he had any. He even gave them the opportunity to rectify their mistakes when he baited them while giving them answers, but they didn’t pick up on it and he was going to use it against them.

The sleeves which held his knives to his arms pressed against the inside of his forearms. Dominique wondered what color Agent Gibbs would turn when he realized that not reading him his rights was not the only mistake his two agents had made. He couldn’t wait to see the man erupt. He hoped it would be epic.

He let his thoughts drift to the fact that according to NCIS he’d killed a Navy Lieutenant Commander. He’d been racking his brain to think of who would do something like that, but came up short. It was not in Westrope’s nature to do something like that, and why would his mark set him up for murder if he could kill him? Something strange was going on.

Dominique also knew he had to get word to Ezra. His partner had to get him out of this mess, but he had to do it in such a manner that his cover stayed intact. He would also have to start investigating the matter on the side. He had a feeling Gibbs wouldn’t be impressed, but he didn’t give a damn what that man thought.

He kept his facial expression blank as the woman started to fidget first. It was very subtle in the beginning, but soon, she started shifting in her chair, tapping the pen against the desk and she even played with her hair.

Dominique ignored her and focused on the man. His short hair also screamed military, but he didn’t think he’d been a Marine. Maybe Navy, or even Army. By the way he held himself, Dominique would go as far to guess special forces. The agent looked completely at ease, but he’d noticed the miniscule tremor of his dominant hand. It wouldn’t take long for him to start moving as well.

The man’s phone vibrated on the table and the sound startled both agents. Dominique managed not to grin. He looked on as the agent pushed to his feet. The woman followed his lead. Without a word to him, they exited the room. He focused his attention back to the window. It seemed they’d blinked first.

Not knowing how long they were going to stay away, and bored out of his mind sitting around and doing nothing, Dominique decided to do something about it. First, he moved his wrists so that his right hand’s fingers touched the strap of his watch. He unbuckled the strap and pulled the small piece of wire from its hiding place. Dominique then twisted his wrists again and with a few sharp movements unlocked the cuffs. He tucked them into his pocket and rubbed his wrists. They were red from how tight they had been cuffed and he would make sure to use this to his advantage later on.

Dominique then leaned back in his chair, put his feet up on the table and crossed his ankles. Without blinking, he undid his left cuff and slid the knife free. His hands and nails were in impeccable condition, but it didn’t stop him from using the tip of the knife to clean his nails. He hummed softly beneath his breath.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

As the man slipped out of the interrogation room he nearly tripped over Gibbs as the man flew around the corner straight into them. A well-dressed woman followed on his heels. The first thing he noticed was her hair color. Red. Gibbs loved redheads.

“Mr. Duarte has lawyered up,” Gibbs informed his two agents, Brent Langer and Kate Todd. He had a scowl on his face.

“Really?” Kate glared at the woman. “That’s strange, because he hasn’t said a single word.”

The redhead smiled sweetly at her. “I represent Mr. Duarte in all legal aspects. He doesn’t need to say a word.”

“So, you’re psychic.”

She smiled at the female agent, but her eyes remained cold. “No, I’m that good.” She focused her attention back on the man beside her.

“May I speak with my client, please.”

Gibbs grunted and indicated to the door behind Langer.

“Thank you.” She ignored all three agents and opened the door.

“Bored, are you?” She rolled her eyes as she noticed what her client was doing.

“A bit,” Dominique responded. He winked at her and then looked past her shoulder.

“Langer,” Gibbs hissed. He turned and glared at his second in command and his junior agent.

For a moment Dominique wondered if Gibbs were going to shoot his agents where they stood. Langer (thank you, Gibbs, at least he had one name) looked flabbergasted, while the female appeared shocked.

“Explain,” Gibbs barked out the order.

Both agents looked like fish on dry ground and Dominique took pity on them. Sort of. “It was confusing at the restaurant. They merely didn’t have the opportunity to search me.” He shrugged his shoulders as the two agents gaped at him. He could see a vein pulsating on the side of Gibbs’ neck.

He received a death glare from the female, while Langer looked down at his shoes. Dominique replaced the knife and straightened his shirtsleeves. He rose to his feet. Took the redhead by the hand and kissed both her cheeks.

“Melony, as lovely as always.” He hid the fact that he was surprised to see her there. But Dominique also knew he shouldn’t have been. Westrope always made sure his employees were cared for. At least know he didn’t need to break his cover and call Ezra.

“Dominique,” she greeted him back. She turned and looked at the three people behind him. “Agent Gibbs, may I have a moment with my client, please?”

Gibbs glared, didn’t respond and stepped deeper into the room. He held out his hand.

Dominique stared at him.

“Hand it over.”

“No.”

“Dominique.” Melony sighed.

“They didn’t even give me a receipt for my phone, now they want my knife as well. No, I will never get it back.” He crossed his arms over his chest. Dominique knew he acted childish, but he loved to piss Gibbs off.

Gibbs growled. He yanked out the small book from his pocket and quickly scribbled something down. He tore out the page and slapped it on the table. “Hand it over.”

Dominique picked up the note. “An IOU?” He snickered but reached for the knife beneath his sleeve and pulled it free. He flipped it a few times in the air, before it landed in his palm and he extended the knife, hilt first to the agent.

Gibbs took the offered knife and handed it to Langer. “Bag that.” He turned back to the man before him. “And the cuffs.”

Dominique frowned. “What cuffs?”

“The cuffs that were used to cuff you to the table,” Agent Langer spoke up.

“Todd.” Gibbs barked.

Finally, the female had a name. Dominique wondered if she was from the same Todds of Long Island. By the glare she directed at him, he decided not to ask. He grinned. “Oh, _those_ cuffs.” He reached into his trouser pocket and took them out. He held them out to her. The grin was still on his face when she snatched them from his hand.

“I’m glad to see you’re so amused, Mr. Duarte.” Gibbs glared at the man.

Dominique shrugged.

“I’m not amused,” Gibbs snarled. He stepped around the table. “Sit down.”

Dominique cocked his head. He looked at the two junior agents. “At least now I know where your lack of manners come from.” He pulled out the second chair for his lawyer before he sat down.

“I asked for a moment with my client, Agent Gibbs,” Melony spoke up.

Gibbs ignored her. He opened the file he’d taken from Langer and placed an official headshot of a Marine on the table.

Dominique remained silent. He assumed it had to be Lieutenant Commander Rhys. He’d never seen the man before in his life. And with his memory, he would’ve remembered.

A second photo joined the first. This one was taken after the commander’s demise. His head looked gruesome, and Dominique hoped that the first blow was the death blow, and that he wasn’t alive when the rest of the blows followed. He managed to keep his facial expression blank when Gibbs placed a third photo in front of him. It was of an RX 350. The same make and model of his own vehicle. Dominique stared at it for a few seconds before he looked away.

Gibbs reached into the file and extracted a copy of Dominique’s firearm permit. 

“Something you want to say, Agent Gibbs, or is this just the show part, without the telling part?” Melony asked sweetly.

Dominique cocked his head and then he grinned. He raised his hands in surrender. “You know what, you’ve got me. I’ll confess. Give me paper and I’ll write you my full statement.”

“Dominique. No. What are you doing?” Melony stared at her client dumbstruck.

“You know, Melony, every good run must come to an end. It’s time for this one to end.” He gave her a wink.

“Don’t do something stupid.”

Dominique gasped as he placed his hand over his chest. “You know me, I never do anything stupid.”

Todd snorted. “Except when you murder an innocent man.”

He didn’t respond. Dominique focused on Gibbs again. “Paper.”

Langer came forward and handed him paper and a pen. Dominique nodded his thanks. He turned to the woman seated at his side. “I will not be needing your services this time around.”

“Dominique,” she sighed but rose to her feet. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. “You know how to reach me.”

Dominique smiled at her and nodded. “I do.” He waited patiently for her to exit the room before he dragged the paper closer and started to write.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

Gibbs had waited for the lawyer to leave before he rose to his feet and indicated with his head to his two junior agents to follow him. They exited the room, leaving Duarte alone. He closed the door with a soft click and moved to the side.

“Anything funny, Kate?” Gibbs frowned when he saw her smile. 

“Just happy. We broke the case. Our suspect is in custody, already confessing.”

“And what about all the mistakes you’ve made? Or don’t those count?”

She blushed and lowered her head.

“I know you don’t believe in apologies, Gibbs, but this is on me, I take full responsibility for my actions, and I apologize,” Brent spoke up for the first time.

Gibbs merely glared at him before he nodded. “He’s a suspect in a murder case. You have a copy of his permit to carry a weapon, and yet neither of you searched him. Mistakes like that can cause people to lose their lives. I will not be writing you up but be warned. If anything like this happens again, both of you will be off my team. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Boss,” both agents replied simultaneously.

“Make sure he signs his statement and take him down to the holding cells.” Gibbs walked away. He was still trying to figure out where he’d seen Duarte before. It was as if the name and the face didn’t match.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

Langer and Todd returned to the interrogation room and took their seats across from their suspect. He was still writing and didn’t even look up when they entered. They looked on as he turned the page again and again before he finally stopped writing. He signed it and turned the yellow pad face down.

“Where’s Agent Gibbs?”

“He has better things to do than to wait for you to write up your confession,” Agent Todd responded.

“I see.” Dominique pulled the papers closer to him. She reached for the pad and he snatched it away. “No.”

“Why not?” She frowned.

“As senior agent, he has the right to read it first.”

Langer sighed. “It doesn’t work like that. Gibbs is indeed the senior agent, but I am the lead investigator on this case.”

Dominique nodded. “And all your reports will be sent to him to sign off?”

“Yes.”

“Well, then let him read this and he can sign off on it immediately.”

“No.”

Dominique straightened his shoulders. He looked down at her before he spoke up. “You know what, Agent Todd? As a junior agent, you have a very high opinion of yourself. You’re self-assured and insecure at the same time. I find that irritating. You think that you’re better than anyone else, but that’s far from the truth. I don’t know why you became an agent; it doesn’t suit you. If you want to close this case, I strongly suggest that you either get Agent Gibbs in here, or take me to him, but I’m handing this over to him, and only him.” Dominique took the pad and ripped the pages he’d written on off before he folded into half. He looked on as the tip of her ears turned pink. She opened her mouth to respond but Langer spoke up first.

“Get Gibbs. I’ll wait here.”

She looked as though she wanted to respond but then glared at her partner, snorted, stood up and left the room.

Dominique studied the man across from him.

“Kate is a good agent.”

Dominique shrugged. “Maybe.”

“You have a very high opinion of yourself,” Langer continued. “You’re downright arrogant.”

“True. It’s required in my line of work.”

“Killing people?”

Dominique laughed. “Staying alive. The antiques business is real cutthroat.”

Langer couldn’t stifle the laugh that escaped. He cleared his throat in an attempt to cover it up.

“How long have you been working for NCIS?” Dominique leaned back in his chair and crossed his one leg over the other.

“Almost five years.”

“Before that?”

“FBI.”

Dominique nodded. “Special forces before that?”

Langer frowned. “What makes you say that?”

“The way you carry yourself for one.”

Langer hummed but didn’t respond verbally. They sat across from each other without saying a word.

Dominique grinned as the door burst open and Gibbs stormed in. The older man’s blue eyes flared in anger.

“I’m not at your beck and call. I’ve got work to do.”

“So do I.” Dominique held out the pages he’d written and Gibbs grabbed them.

“You may want to sit down before you read it.” Dominique pushed the chair Todd vacated back with his foot.

Gibbs glared at him.

“I insist.” Dominique’s voice was cold.

Gibbs frowned and sat down. He started to read. First, he frowned, then his face turned red and his hands started to shake. He crumpled the pages in his hands as his grip tightened around them. When he was done reading, he tossed the pages back to Dominique. “What’s the meaning of that?”

Dominique shook his head. “That’s your first question? Not interested in knowing if it’s the truth?”

“Is it?”

“I have a tendency to tell lies. It’s part of who I am. Sometimes I find myself lost, and I struggle to get back on the straight and narrow. Fortunately, this is not one of those times.” Dominique bowed his head and his shoulders sagged. For a moment he felt disappointed. He took a deep breath and rose to his feet.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Gibbs quickly stood up.

“Home.”

“No, you’re not. Sit down,” Gibbs barked out the order.

Dominique looked at him and shook his head. He pointed to the discarded pages on the table. “I am going home. I outlined every step an arresting agent should take when a suspect is taken into custody as set out in the FLETC manual. I wrote out the Miranda rights as how they are supposed to be read out to every suspect that gets arrested. I also went as far as poking holes in your so-called case against me. That includes the fact that the RX 350 in that photo is a right-hand drive, while mine is not. You’re more than welcome to come and see for yourself. The fact that you showed me a copy of my permit to carry, doesn’t prove anything, especially since your sailor died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head. And that kind of damage was not done by a .38 Special.”

Dominique straightened out and looked at the two men. “I’ve given you more than enough of my time. Next time, if you want to talk to me, or arrest me, do it through my lawyer.” Without looking back, he opened the door and walked out.

“Gibbs?” Langer felt faint. As Duarte had spoken up, he’d realized what he and Kate had done, more specifically what they hadn’t done. They’d never read their suspect his rights, except to tell him he was under arrest. That, coupled with the fact that they never searched him suspect, made this a colossal fuckup. And it was all on him.

Gibbs slowly turned to his second in command. He wanted nothing more than to fire the man for his incompetence, but he knew Langer. He knew the man was a good agent. Something like this had never happened before. Gibbs found his voice. “Get out of my sight. Fix this or I will fire your ass.”

Gibbs stormed out as Langer folded his arms on the table and lowered his head on it. He’d committed a royal fuck up.


	3. Chapter 3

**Dominique’s Residence**

Ezra looked at Tony, where he lay sprawled out on the bed, his head buried beneath his pillow. A thin sheet covered him from his hips down, and even though Ezra never looked at another man, he could appreciate a beautiful body when he saw one.

“Are you going to stare at me the whole time, or do you have something for me?” Dominique lifted his head and looked bleary eyed at his friend.

Ezra grinned. “You always moan that no one appreciates your body, and now that I’m staring at it, you’re also complaining.” He held out the large mug of coffee.

Dominique made sure that the sheet stayed in place and reached for the coffee. He sighed in content as he took the first sip. “Thank you.” He looked up. “Any particular reason why you’re here at the crack of dawn?”

“Two actually.” Ezra leaned against the door. “One, you failed to let me know when you got home, and two, you picked up a stalker. I thought that maybe you wanted to deal with him yourself, or let Brandon deal with him.”

“What?” Dominique frowned. He shook his head. “I’m still asleep. Explain it to me again, please.”

Ezra sighed. “Which part?”

Dominique rolled his eyes. “The second part, I know you’re cranky about me not contacting you, but I’ve got a very good reason for that. But, first, the second part about me having a stalker. Who is it?”

“I can’t wait to hear your excuse.”

“It’s not an excuse,” Dominique huffed.

Ezra glared at his best friend. “We’ll talk about that later. As for your stalker, it appears to be an NCIS agent.”

“Appears to be?” Dominique groaned. “Does he have a very bad haircut?” Dominique closed his eyes. He prayed that it wasn’t Gibbs. He had no energy to deal with Gibbs so early in the morning.

Ezra frowned at the question and shook his head. “Looked good to me?”

“No gray hair?”

“No, dark brown hair. Wavy.”

“Ah.” Dominique nodded. “Agent Langer.” He took another sip of his coffee. “Him, I can handle.”

“Yourself?”

“Well, I don’t want Brandon to shoot the man. It’s bad enough that NCIS thinks I murdered someone. Can you imagine what they will do if one of their own gets shot?”

“True.” Ezra agreed. He cleared his throat. “Gonna tell me why you didn’t let me know you were back?”

“Because you would’ve wanted to pull the plug on this op, and then hide me away until they cleared my name. I can’t have that.”

“Now I’m confused. Which part didn’t you want? And how could you think that not talking to me would make me change my mind?”

“The first part, and I know you. You tend to think things through much better after a night of rest.” Dominique argued.

“They can arrest you for murder, then this whole operation will be belly up in any case.”

“Correction.” He held up a finger. “They did arrest me for murder.”

Ezra growled. “Can you just please fucking explain to me what happened yesterday, why the fuck did you let the lawyer go!”

“Hold your horses, Ezra.” Dominique placed the empty mug on the bedside table, grabbed hold of the sheet and got off the bed. “I need food.” He looked at Ezra. “You also need food. That’s why you’re so cranky.” Without looking at his friend again, he made his way out of his room, with the sheet draped around his hips.

“And the agent parked outside your home?” Ezra inquired.

“You think he’s also hungry? I’ll make him some breakfast too.” Dominique grinned when Ezra glared at him.

“You’re a real funny guy.” Ezra made himself another mug of coffee and sat down on one of the high chairs that surrounded the island in the enormous kitchen. One thing he’d learned early on in their friendship was to stay out of Tony’s way when he was in the kitchen. Tony conjured up the best dishes when left in peace.

He watched in silence for a few moments, and then spoke up again. “You want to tell me what’s going on?” Tony glared at him, but Ezra held his gaze.

Dominique rolled his eyes, took a bell pepper and started slicing it up. He remained silent as he moved on to some mushrooms. Finally, he looked up. “NCIS is under the impression that I killed Lieutenant Commander Rhys by fracturing his skull after I shot him in the leg.”

Ezra cocked his head. “They don’t know that you wouldn’t have needed to bash a guy’s head in, or shoot him to kill him, do they?”

Dominique cringed. “Don’t think we should mention that to them at this moment.”

Ezra laughed. “I’ll make sure to keep that under wraps.”

“Thank you.” Dominique gave him a mock bow as he continued preparing breakfast.

“What did you confess to?”

It was Dominique’s time to laugh. “Langer and his partner, Todd, drove me to it.” He continued to inform his friend about what he’d written down in his so-called confession. At the end, both men laughed out loud.

“It was also stupid,” Dominique admitted when he stopped laughing.

“Why?” Ezra asked with a frown.

“I used the FLETC manual and wrote down the procedures word for word. How the hell does the right-hand man of Armando Westrope know what’s written in a FLETC manual?”

“Do you think they’ll take a closer look at you?”

“Gibbs? Yeah, definitely.”

“Wait, Gibbs? Like in _the_ Gibbs?” Ezra had heard the story about what had occurred between Tony and Gibbs a few times over the years. He angled his head. “The fact that you’re still here tells me he didn’t recognize you, or he’s keeping your cover.”

“Don’t think he recognized me. But with me writing out a whole manual, that will make him dig deeper.”

“I’ve personally made sure that all the security protocols are in place around your identity. The moment someone starts digging, I will be alerted.”

“I know, Ezra.” Dominique smiled. He took a plate and dished up for his friend before he took a healthy portion for himself. A third plate got filled and he placed it in the oven to keep it warm.

“Seriously?”

Dominique nodded. “Yes, you know as well as I do, that giving that NCIS agent a plate of food is exactly the thing Dominique, _I_ , would do.”

Ezra had no answer as he knew Tony was correct. Dominique Duarte was arrogant enough to take breakfast to an NCIS agent who sat in front of his gate staring at his house. He watched as Tony grabbed the plate and made his way over to the door.

“You’re not dressed!” Ezra called out.

Dominique shrugged. “I’m covered with a sheet.” He grinned over his shoulder and reached for the door. Just as he was about to open the door, he turned back. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Ezra sounded surprised.

“For cleaning up in here. I don’t believe for one second that those NCIS agents left anything in here in their original positions.”

Ezra tilted his head. “For you, anytime, my friend.” He looked on as Tony headed out of the house and shook his head. He couldn’t go out, but that wasn’t going to stop him from watching what was going on outside. He reached for his phone and called up the live camera feed of the front gate. He was just in time to see Tony exiting the gate and making his way over to the dark nondescript sedan across the street.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

Dominique rapped on the window and smiled as it rolled down. “I can’t imagine sitting in a car for hours on end watching someone else’s life while your own is at a complete standstill.” He held out the plate. “Here, have some breakfast, Agent Langer.”

“I’m not hungry,” Langer replied.

“And yet, your stomach is not agreeing with you.” Dominique grinned as the agent’s stomach protested out loud. “I promise you it’s not poisoned. I love food far too much to use it to get rid of someone.” He shrugged. “Besides, if I want to kill you, I can always shoot you in the leg and then bash your head in.”

“That’s not funny,” Langer snapped.

Dominique nodded. “Yes, you’re right. That wasn’t funny. I do apologize. I’m not a morning person and finding an NCIS agent camped out in front of my house doesn’t make it better.”

“I’m doing my job.”

“And I’m doing my civil duty, feeding an agent instead of looking on as you choke to death on stale doughnuts and terrible coffee.” Dominique cocked his head. “Do NCIS agents eat doughnuts like cops?”

Langer glared at him and Dominique grinned. “You do realize that you have to work on that glare of yours. You’ve got nothing on Agent Gibbs in that department.”

Langer couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “I think he was born with that glare.”

Dominique laughed. “I won’t argue with you on that point.” He indicated to the plate of food again. “Please, I know you’re doing your job; the least I can do is give you something good to eat.”

“You can confess.”

Dominique’s stemmed his anger. “Don’t ruin this moment, Agent.” He straightened. “You can leave the plate and cutlery at the gate. I’ll fetch it later.” Without another word he turned and left.

Langer looked at the retreating man’s back. He didn’t feel guilty for a second. His stomach growled again, and he took a sniff at the food. It smelled divine, and before he could stop himself, he took a bite. He moaned as the different flavors exploded in his mouth. It was by far one of the tastiest breakfasts he’d eaten in his life.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

“That didn’t go well,” Ezra commented as Tony made his way back into the house.

Dominique merely grunted at him as he moved past the kitchen and headed towards his study.

“Where are you going?” Ezra inquired as he watched Tony disappear down the hallway.

“To find out why NCIS is of the opinion I murdered that Lieutenant Commander.” Dominique lowered himself behind his desk and pulled his laptop closer.

“I already had a look,” Ezra said as he entered the study. “I couldn’t find a link between him and you.”

Dominique tilted his head. “Nothing?”

Ezra shrugged. “Nothing.”

“Mmm.” Dominique tapped his finger against his chin. “I have a feeling that when Gibbs confronted me with the _evidence_ they had against me, he held something back.”

“Why would you say that?”

“A hunch.” Dominique rose to his feet. “Could you detect what they were looking for when they searched the house?” He walked around the desk and took a leather-bound book from the shelf. He lazily paged through it.

“Can’t say. They tossed the whole place.”

Dominique lowered the book. “We need to find out what that is.”

“And how do you suggest we do that?” Ezra crossed his arms over his chest.

“With some good old snooping of course.” Dominique grinned.

“You’re going to hack NCIS.”

Dominique shrugged.

“You can’t. That’s illegal.”

“Not if you’re not here to witness it.” Dominique had placed the book to the side.

“If you get caught?”

Dominique shrugged. “I’m a thug. Don’t you think for one moment that they might even expect such behavior from me?”

“You could compromise this whole operation.”

Dominique growled. “And if they arrest me of murder, don’t you think the operation is then compromised as well?” He took a deep breath. “It’s the only thing I can think of.”

Ezra had to agree. He didn’t like it one bit, but Tony was right. It was the only thing they could do. Especially if they wanted Tony’s cover to stay in place. “I’m going to get us more coffee. Yell when you’re ready.” Ezra couldn’t be present when Tony gained access to NCIS’ database. Not if he wanted to be around Tony for the foreseeable future.

Dominique merely hummed as he let his fingers glide over the keyboard searching a way to find the information he was looking for.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

**NCIS offices: Bullpen**

Gibbs stared at the photo of Dominique Duarte that stared at him from his desktop’s screen. It was part of the surveillance footage of the interrogation room. Gibbs had requested the footage after he’d blown his top and nearly fired Kate and Brent on the spot.

He'd watched the footage and saw how brilliantly the man played his agents. How he was brash and arrogant on the one side, yet calm and collective on the other. Gibbs would never admit it out loud, but Duarte had impressed him. Most men would’ve cracked when he stared them down; Duarte hadn’t even blinked. Gibbs was certain the man made the _confession_ because he grew tired of them. He was done playing games and showed them just what he thought of them. That didn’t sit well with Gibbs. It only made him more determined to find out who and what Duarte really was and how he was connected to their dead Commander.

Gibbs picked up the evidence bag which contained Duarte’s confession and held it in front of him. He’d sealed it himself after the arrogant man had left. Although he had no idea why he’d done it, his gut had told him to, and he always listened to it.

An idea formed in his head. Gibbs looked up. “McGee.”

“Boss?” The probie almost tripped over his own feet as he hurried to Gibbs’ desk.

“Take this to Abby. Let her run fingerprints and DNA and whatever else she can on it.”

“On these pages, Boss?” McGee asked with uncertainty.

“Yes, McGee. On _those_ pages. I want her to use a fine-tooth comb and magnifying glass to go over every single inch of every page. I want to know everything she finds on it ASAP. I don’t care what she has to do to get it done.” Gibbs managed to growl and not shout out of frustration.

“On it, Boss.”

“McGee!” Gibbs barked out the probie’s name.

“Boss?” The younger man asked, looking confused.

“Take it.” Gibbs held the evidence bag to the other man.

“Yes, Boss.” McGee grabbed the bag and ran off.

Gibbs sat himself down and stared at his computer screen again. “I will find out who and what you are Dominique Duarte. And if you are in any way or manner responsible for Rhys’ death, I will make sure you get punished for it.”

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

“Huh,” Dominique leaned back in his chair and stared at the screen.

“I don’t like the sound of that _huh_ of yours. What did you find?” Ezra came to stand next to his best friend. He groaned when he saw what was on the laptop screen.

“Fuck it, Tony. Warn a person next time!” He covered his eyes and moved away.

Dominique grinned. “What, never saw two men fucking before?” he asked innocently.

“Oh, I’ve seen two men fucking before. In fact, I’ve seen more than two men fucking at the same time and place. You, being in the middle of it all. But it doesn’t mean that I want to see it on your laptop.” He frowned.

“It is _my_ laptop,” Dominique responded.

“I am hundred percent aware of the fact that it is your laptop, but still. I thought you were looking at what NCIS had against you. Not at porn. And what the fuck was that?” Ezra asked before he could stop himself. He immediately raised his hand. “No, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. Forget that I asked.”

“Oh.” Dominique shrugged. “I was bored.” He continued before Ezra could reply. “And I already found out what they have against me. It was easy to get into their server and look for what I needed.”

Ezra groaned. “I didn’t hear that.” He covered his ears with his hands and removed them again after a few seconds. “Skip telling me _how_ you found it, can you tell me _what_ you found?”

“Sure.” Dominique grinned. “The vicuna scarf.”

“The what?” Ezra asked with a clear look of confusion on his face.

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t know about the scarf.”

“No, you’re right. I don’t know about _the_ scarf, or any other scarf for that matter. Care to enlighten me?”

“I ordered a scarf for Westrope a few weeks back.” Dominique explained quickly what a vicuna scarf was.

“Doesn’t the man have enough scarves as it is? I swear, I’ve never seen him without one,” Ezra remarked.

“Ezra.” Dominique sighed. “That’s beside the point, right now.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry. Carry on.”

Dominique glared at his friend. He sighed once and then continued. “As I was saying. I ordered the scarf for Westrope a few weeks back and when it got delivered, I went to pick it up.”

“Wait, is this the day when that punk kid tried to take your wallet?”

“Yes!” Dominique exclaimed. “That day.”

“I thought he didn’t get away with anything?” Ezra frowned.

“I lied.” Dominique shrugged.

“He got the scarf?”

“Yeah, he did. Although, at that stage I don’t think he realized it was a scarf. It came in an elegant box.”

“And you didn’t report it stolen.”

“I didn’t need the cops around this, Ezra.”

“Wait.” Ezra raised his hand. “This gift was for Westrope, so it couldn’t have been cheap.” He swallowed. “Just how much did that scarf cost?”

Dominique shook his head. “You really don’t want to know.”

“I do.” Ezra’s voice was filled with steel. They still had to report to the brass every item they bought, handing the receipt over to be processed as soon as possible. In the end, things like gifts were used to show the jury (if a case went on trial), that there was a relationship – sexual, or, platonic, between the agent and the mark, so that the mark couldn’t turn back and say he’d never laid eyes on their operative.

“Ezra.” Dominique sighed.

“Don’t you, _Ezra_ me, DiNozzo. How much?”

Dominique lowered his head. “Four thousand.”

“Excuse me?” Ezra gasped. “Four thousand fucking dollars?”

Dominique nodded.

“Fucking hell, Tony! What were you thinking!” He held up his hand. “No, you didn’t think. That’s the problem. You didn’t fucking think!”

“Hey! I knew what I was doing! I had to do it. You know I wouldn’t have done it, if it wasn’t necessary.”

Ezra took a deep breath. “You know, it’s too late now. It’s not as if we have the scarf to return it.”

Dominique got a pained expression on his face.

Ezra sighed again. “Let me guess, no return policy.”

Tony remained quiet. That alone gave Ezra the answer he needed.

“Let’s get back to the issue at hand. The scarf.” He looked at Tony. “Was it found on the deceased?”

Dominique shook his head. “No, fibers under his nails indicated that he came in contact with the scarf, but it wasn’t found on him.”

“And because this scarf is so rare, they traced it back to you.”

Dominique nodded.

“Do you think the punk kid killed the commander?”

“No,” Dominique shook his head. “Rhys was definitely followed in an RX 350 and that punk kid didn’t have one. He also threatened me with a knife, not a revolver.”

“You saying the punk kid didn’t kill the commander?”

“I’m saying the possibility is very slim.”

“Then how did the fibers get under Rhys’ fingers?”

Dominique shrugged. “The punk kid might’ve accosted him as well. There might’ve been a struggle.”

Ezra nodded. “That’s a possibility. Or the punk kid could’ve sold it to Rhys.”

Dominique shook his head. “The scarf wasn’t found on him.”

“Maybe the killer took it?”

“It’s a possibility.” Dominique agreed.

“Good.” Ezra didn’t know how that helped Tony, but he filed the information away to ponder over later. He rose to his feet. He had to get back to the safe house.

“Bumper cars,” Dominique said with a smile.

Ezra frowned. “What the hell are you on about now?”

“It’s what you saw on the screen.” Dominique indicated to the now dark screen of his laptop.

“No, I don’t want to know.” Ezra lifted his hands in surrender.

Dominique grinned. “It’s a very interesting position.” Before Ezra could comment, Dominique continued and explained to his friend what the position entailed. He loved to see the heat rise in Ezra’s neck. “Some coordination is required, as the top can’t properly see or control his downward thrusting, but with some practicing, it can lead to some crazy sex.”

“I need to go and bleach my eyes. You know I’ve got a visual brain, man,” Ezra complained as he pressed his hands over his eyes in an attempt to block out any pictures that might pop up in his head.

Dominique grinned from ear to ear and was about to respond when the sound of a pinging alarm from the laptop made both men jump to their feet. “Ezra?” Dominique asked with concern etched on his face.

Ezra had moved to Tony’s laptop and with a few keystrokes he found what he was looking for. “Someone just hacked our secure database.” He cursed some more as his fingers glided over the keys. With every passing second, he cursed more. Finally, he stopped typing and stepped away from the laptop. His shoulders sagged.

“Ezra?” Dominique repeated his friend’s name again.

“Someone just hacked into our secure database.”

“You already said that.”

Ezra nodded. “Someone just uncovered your true identity.”

“Do you know who?” Dominique found himself trembling.

Ezra shook his head. “No.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means we have to get you out of here. Your whole cover is blown. If this was Westrope, he knows you’re a cop. He won’t let you breathe past sunset.” Ezra grabbed hold of Tony with one hand and grabbed Tony’s laptop with the other. He pushed the man in the direction of the secret passage.

“Move, we’ve got to get out of here.”

Dominique was at a loss for words. He could only stumble onwards as his best friend pushed him towards the concealed entrance. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach. The hard work he’d put into this op for the past four years had just gone down the drain and he had no idea who was responsible for this clusterfuck.


	4. Chapter 4

**NCIS: 2 days later**

Director Tom Morrow wondered if it was too late to go on early retirement. On a normal day he loved his work. He loved the agents and admin personnel he worked with, and was proud of the fact that the agency had a positive impact on the fight against crime. More specifically, in the Marines and the Navy.

But then there were days like today, when he wished he’d never stepped out of his house. He really should’ve stayed in bed.

He rubbed his temples tiredly and closed his eyes for a few seconds. It didn’t help his thumping headache and so he opened them again. He reached for his phone, and when his personal assistant answered, he addressed her brusquely before he ended the call.

Tom leaned back in his chair and stared at his closed office door. When the knock came, he counted to five before he called out, “Enter.” He stayed in his seat and looked on as his senior field agent, and the rest of the team, filed into his office. Tom made them stand in front of his desk, not offering any of them a chair.

He glared at each one in turn before his eyes settled on his top agent. “Gibbs, you care to explain why I had to field no less than six calls within the past forty-eight hours on the conduct of my agents? It included calls from SECNAV and SECDEF. I also had a call from the Commissioner of Police. All three of them _demanded_ your heads on a silver platter. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t do that?”

“We did our jobs.”

“No!” Morrow banged his fist against his desk. “You did not do your job. You engaged in a witch hunt, nearly derailing an undercover investigation, all because you decided to play Captain Ahab. I had a look at the _so called_ evidence you had, and it was at best, circumstantial, Gibbs.”

“We didn’t know,” Kate spoke up.

Morrow turned his glare towards the voice. “Didn’t know what, Agent Todd?”

“That he’s a cop. That he’s undercover.”

“You were not supposed to know that, and before you even suggest that he should’ve told you, Agent Todd, that’s not how it works. Detective DiNozzo's cover was nearly blown because of your party trick. It would’ve painted a target on his back. He could’ve been killed.”

“My team did what they had to do,” Gibbs spoke up.

“Your team collected prints from a statement and ran a search on it. It came back as belonging to Dominique Duarte.” The director glared at the probie of the team. “Isn’t that right, Agent McGee?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“But then Miss Sciuto got a second hit from touch DNA, and that hit was clearly marked as classified. Correct, Agent McGee?”

“Yes, Sir.” McGee swallowed.

“And then, what did you do?” Morrow’s voice was as cold as ice.

McGee gulped and looked at his director. It was clear that the man expected an answer from him. “We found a match.”

Morrow smiled. “Indeed. But how did you find that match, Agent McGee?”

“Umm.” McGee looked around.

“Not sure how to answer? Let me make it easy for you and tell you how you did that. You and Miss Sciuto wormed your way into a Washington D.C. Department of Police secure site, and when you discovered that you still couldn’t get what you wanted, you hacked into a second secure site where you _illegally_ obtained the true identity of Dominique Duarte, based on the DNA profile you found. By breaching that site, the two of you gave any other person lurking around on the internet, looking for information on Dominique Duarte, access to Detective DiNozzo’s undercover alias. An undercover operation that ran for four years. Let me repeat it, four years, went belly up because of your stupidity.”

“They followed my orders.”

Tom laughed. “I’ve got no doubt that they did, Gibbs. But you didn’t tell them they should hack into government, and, or, law enforcement agencies. That, they did totally on their own.”

“What’s going to happen to them?”

Morrow tilted his head. “They won’t be thrown into the darkest, deepest pit on earth and left there to die.” He shrugged. “Although, I did ask for that.” He glared at McGee again. “Both their security clearances have been revoked. For the next six months, neither of them will be able to use any computer, laptop, or any other device, which can connect to the internet, either here at work, or after hours. A single violation will lead to immediate termination of their employment and they will be thrown in that deep dark pit I referred to earlier.”

“That’s not fair!” McGee exclaimed.

“Not fair?” Tom Morrow bellowed as he stood toe-to-toe with the junior agent. “You nearly ruined a police detective’s life with that stunt that you pulled. He could’ve been killed if his identity had been discovered, and you're moaning about not having access to the internet. You better get your priorities straight, Agent McGee. I will not hesitate to fire you.” He moved back behind his desk. “You’re all dismissed. Agent Gibbs, remain behind.” Morrow sat down without looking at any of the people as they left.

Silence settled over the office as Tom busied himself with the work on his desk. He was aware of Gibbs staring at him, but ignored the man.

“It’s a good case.”

Morrow looked up. “I had a look at the evidence, Gibbs. I’ll repeat what I said earlier. It’s circumstantial at most. It is not a good case.”

“I think he’s really working for Westrope.”

“What?” Morrow sighed. “Are you saying he switched sides?”

“It’s possible. He’s been under for far too long. My team is running a search for a possible connection between Rhys and Westrope. When we find it, it will strengthen our case.”

Tom cocked his head. “Or, did you finally figure out why he looked so familiar and since you busted his partner five years back, you decided that he must be dirty as well. And because you decided that, it must be true.”

Gibbs turned red. “You’ve got it wrong.” He didn’t even bother with asking how Tom knew that Duarte, sorry, DiNozzo, looked so familiar, but that he couldn’t place him. The man had a weird knack for things like that.

Tom snorted but didn’t respond. Gibbs’ statement that Detective DiNozzo might’ve turned sides was hilarious. “I’ve spoken to Detective DiNozzo’s captain at length. DiNozzo is willing to give his full cooperation in your investigation to make sure that the guilty party is brought to justice.”

“How considerate of him.”

“Drop the attitude, Gibbs.” Tom rose to his feet. “Detective DiNozzo and his handler will be here in a few minutes. They have agreed to do an interview with Langer. I’ve arranged with security to escort them directly to the conference room. Agent Langer can meet them there.”

“I’ll be conducting the interview.”

Tom frowned. “I thought Langer was primary in this case?”

“I’m still the senior agent.” Gibbs glared at his friend.

“You only want to see if you can intimidate Detective DiNozzo into a confession.” A wry smile appeared on the director’s face. “It seems you’ve not yet learned your lesson, Gibbs.” Tom shook his head. “Take this as a friendly warning, Gibbs. The Police Commissioner, SECNAV and SECDEF are all watching. Don’t make a fool of this agency; you won’t like the consequences if you do.”

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

Tony groaned as they entered the building and the bright orange walls assaulted his senses. “Fuck.” He blinked rapidly. “This will drive me up the wall.” He turned to the security officer who escorted him and Ezra upstairs.

“You don’t have a pair of sunglasses I could use?” He squinted.

The officer smiled. “That’s a common first reaction, sir. You get used to it.”

Tony shook his head. “No, never, not a chance in hell.” He shuddered as they made their way up the stairs. He thanked the man as they got shown to a large room and then left alone. When the door closed behind them, Tony turned to his friend.

“You’re extremely quiet. Is there something I need to be worried about?”

Ezra shook his head. “No. I’m merely pissed at the antics that they pulled.”

Tony shrugged. He was aware of how much damage could’ve been done, but it seemed they got a lucky break and his cover was still intact. What made things a bit easier was the fact that Westrope himself had a family emergency that he needed to sort out, and he had flown to Seattle. He would only return in about a week’s time. “No harm done.”

Ezra growled and grabbed Tony by the arm. “No harm done?” he hissed. “How can you be so calm about the whole incident?”

Tony shook his head. “I’m not calm, Ezra. But I don’t want to spend unnecessary energy on things that already happened. I merely want this investigation to be done so that I can continue with this op in taking Westrope down. I can’t afford to lose my concentration now.”

“I hear you.” Ezra pulled Tony closer and hugged him hard. They stood like that for a few seconds before they moved apart. Ezra shook his head. Tony had slipped back into his Duarte persona. He knew his friend did it to piss off the NCIS agents.

“Tony,” he said, but stopped talking as the door opened and a man with silver hair and blue eyes walked in. Ezra immediately knew who it was. He waited to see what Gibbs’ first move was going to be. Gibbs ignored him and came to a halt in front of Tony. Ezra watched as Tony squared his shoulders and got that expression on his face that Ezra referred to as Tony’s resting bitch face.

“I’m not sure what your involvement is in the death of Lieutenant Commander Rhys, DiNozzo, but if you’re guilty, I will make sure to take you down.”

Before Tony could respond, Ezra took a step forward. “We agreed to this meeting in an attempt to cooperate in your investigation. I do not appreciate the fact that you’re threatening my detective, Agent Gibbs.”

“Who are you?” Gibbs didn’t step back from where he stood in front of Tony.

“Lieutenant Ezra Bates. Detective DiNozzo’s superior officer and also his handler for the undercover operation he’s been working on.”

Gibbs merely grunted.

Ezra rolled his eyes. “I don’t like your attitude, Agent Gibbs. We agreed to this meeting and to an interview with Agent Langer. You are not Agent Langer. When will he be joining us?”

“I’ll be conducting the interview.” Gibbs finally moved away. “Sit.”

Ezra opened his mouth, but Tony beat him to it.

“Do you want me to roll over and play dead as well?” Tony made no attempt to move.

Gibbs growled and moved closer to Tony again. “You think you’re really clever, DiNozzo. Do you know what I think?”

Tony didn’t reply.

“I think you’re involved in the Commander’s death.”

“You already stated that. Anything new you wanted to add?” Tony sounded bored.

“You switched sides. You’re working with Westrope. You killed Rhys on his orders.”

Tony snickered. “Yes, you’re right. I switched sides, because I’m dirty. Just like Danny.” He shook his head. “You thought I was dirty five years ago, Gibbs, and you still harbor the same feelings towards me now as you did then. The only problem is, I wasn’t dirty, I didn’t know Danny was on the take, and I definitely didn’t go over to the dark side this time around either. I’ve been working my ass off on this case, and I will not jeopardize everything I have worked for, to go and kill an officer, to become a suspect in an NCIS investigation, so that I can blow up my whole cover and get arrested for murder.”

Tony shook his head and sighed. “Either you get Agent Langer in here to conduct this interview, or I’m leaving, but I’m not talking to you anymore.”

“You will sit down, and you will answer my questions,” Gibbs threatened.

“Or what?”

Ezra moved in between the two men and pushed Tony behind him. He didn’t like using his height, and normally he walked with his shoulders hunched over to appear less intimidating. This time, he squared his shoulders and stood tall. At six foot seven, he towered over Gibbs.

“Get out.” Ezra didn’t care that he was in the NCIS offices. He had enough of this arrogant man. “Get out now, or we leave, and I will personally make sure that I have your badge by the end of business today.”

The door behind them opened. Neither of the men looked away.

“Agent Gibbs,” Morrow’s voice filled the room. “My office, now.” He stepped back and Langer stepped into the room.

Ezra glared at Gibbs a final time before he moved away. He guided Tony to the large conference table and sat him down before he took a seat next to him. Both men ignored the senior agent. They didn’t even flinch as he stormed out and slammed the door shut behind him.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

Agent Brent Langer looked down at his shoes before he took a deep breath and looked up. “I’m sorry.”

Tony shook his head. “I don’t know Gibbs at all, but I do have the feeling that showing remorse is frowned upon.”

Brent cracked a smile. “If you only knew.” He indicated at the chairs. “May I have a seat?”

“It’s your conference room.” Tony shrugged.

“I know, but I did hear the threat clearly from the other side of the door.” He looked at the second man.

Tony sighed. “Ezra is more bark than bite.”

Brent shook his head. “At this stage I’m going to have to disagree with you.” He reached out with his hand. “We haven’t officially met. I’m Agent Brent Langer.”

“Lieutenant Ezra Bates. You made a lot of mistakes, Agent Langer. I hope you’re now willing to rectify them.” Ezra shook the offered hand.

“I am.” Langer nodded. He took out his pen and notebook and opened it up.

“Are you conducting this interview with Tony as a person of interest, or to obtain facts to help you in your investigations?” Ezra asked.

“After the fuck-up I made before, I’m taking a step back and gathering facts first.”

Ezra nodded. He looked at Tony. “You satisfied with that?”

“I am, but before you start asking your questions, answer me this. Do you always treat your suspects like you treated me?”

A faint blush appeared on Brent’s cheeks. He shook his head. “No. And I am truly sorry how we treated you. Our conduct was unprofessional.”

“Apology accepted.” Tony leaned forward. “Ask away. What can I help you with?”

“You ready to forgive so easily?” Brent couldn’t help but ask.

“What would it help if I stayed angry?”

Ezra grunted. “He’s one of those that forgives easily, but you only get one chance. If you fuck up for a second time, you’re out.”

“I can live with that.” Brent tapped his pen against the page. He looked at the man across from him. “Have you ever met Lieutenant Commander Rhys?”

“Never. I’ve never heard of the name before the day I was accused of murdering him.”

“Never heard his name around Mr. Westrope?”

“No.”

Brent frowned. “You sound very sure.”

Tony sighed. “That’s because I am.”

“You’ve worked for four years undercover, and you’re saying that you haven’t heard that name once?”

Tony nodded. “I’ve got an eidetic memory.”

Brent’s head snapped back. “That’s why you could write out the whole section on arrests verbatim from the manual.”

“Correct.” Tony moved on the chair. “You think Rhys might be linked to Westrope. Why?” He held up his hand. “Wait, don’t answer that.” He shook his head and glanced at Ezra.

“What?” Ezra frowned.

“You don’t see it?”

“I’m not a clairvoyant.” Ezra rolled his eyes.

Tony turned his gaze back to Langer. “Gibbs already told me he was of the opinion that I’ve turned. You’re looking for a connection between Westrope and Rhys, and that I killed Rhys on instruction from Westrope. By doing that, I made sure Westrope knew that I was loyal to him, and only him.”

“I still don’t see it.”

Tony smiled as he rose to his feet. “Agent Langer isn’t planning on finding out the truth, he’s merely a puppet on a string, playing to Gibbs’ tune in obtaining evidence that I’m guilty of murder.”

“No!”

Tony glared at the agent.

“That’s not true.” Langer tried again.

“If that’s not true, then why are you concentrating on a possible connection between Westrope and Rhys? You haven’t found anything. I assume you went through all his financial records, his social platforms and his friends? There is no connection to Westrope, but instead of taking your investigation in another direction, you keep on hammering on the same thing over and over.”

“I have to cover all my bases.”

“You are beating a dead horse,” Tony growled. His hands shook as he leaned forward.

“What avenue would you investigate?” Langer responded.

Tony rubbed his face with his hands. He was bone tired. “The vehicle; the .38 special, those are the _clues_ that led you to me. But that’s not all that you have?” Tony sat down again.

Ezra watched Tony.

“No,” Langer responded. “We found fibers under the commander’s nails.”

Tony locked eyes with Langer. “Fibers from a very rare and expensive piece of cloth, more specifically, a vicuna scarf.”

“You know about the scarf.”

“From what you told me, I calculated back to the day the commander died. That’s the same day when a cocky young man pulled a knife on me and tried to take my phone. All he got was the box with the scarf in it.”

“Why haven’t you told us about this?”

Tony laughed. “Seriously? When precisely would you have wanted me to do that?”

“True,” Langer conceded. He tapped his pen against the page again. “Can you give a description of the male?”

“I can, but that’s not going to help you.”

“Why not? Langer frowned.

“Because he didn’t kill Rhys either.”

“How do you know that?”

Tony sighed. “Perpetrators tend to stick to their weapon of choice. In this instance, a knife. Not a .38 Special, and definitely not something like a baseball bat to bash someone’s head in.”

“Weapon of opportunity?”

Tony rolled his eyes. “I’m going to assume that you are tired, and not firing on all cylinders, Agent Langer. If he had a .38 Special, he wouldn’t have needed any other weapon of opportunity to kill the commander, he could’ve shot him. And not merely through the leg. If there was only one cartridge in the revolver, he could’ve used the butt of the revolver to cave the man’s head in. No, whoever killed the commander brought the weapon with them. They used it with the intention to kill.”

“What about the fibers?”

Tony shrugged. “There are too many possibilities. The youngster could’ve sold it to your victim for easy cash. He could’ve worn it and tried to rob the victim. The commander’s killer could’ve taken it from the cocky little shit who got it from me in the first place. As I said, there are too many variants.”

“Or they got hold of the scarf on purpose, in another attempt to frame you for murder.”

Tony nodded. “I had thought of that as well.”

“What?” Ezra looked between the two men. “Are you saying that when the cocky shit tried to take your phone, he was really after the scarf, and not your phone?”

“That possibility has crossed my mind.”

“That places another spin on things.” Langer stared at Tony.

“Yes, either the cocky shit worked for someone else, or he became a victim of opportunity and ended up dead somewhere in a ditch.”

“If we assume he worked alone, then why not strangle the commander with the scarf? Why then use something like a bat?” Langer scribbled on the page. The questions were starting to fill the page, the answers, on the other hand remained far too few. He looked up. “Either way, it means that whoever tried to set you up, followed you.”

“Fuck,” Ezra whispered.

“Cheer up, it’s not so bad.” Tony slapped his best friend on the back.

“Not that bad, you say?” Ezra shook his head. “It means there’s a possible third party out there, who is gunning for you, and we’ve got no idea who it is, or why the fuck they’re doing that.”

“True.” Tony smiled with confidence. “We’ll figure that out.”

Ezra groaned. “And when exactly are you going to get the time to figure this out? You’re still undercover; it’s not as if you can go around town and flash your badge demanding information. And what do you think will happen the moment whoever is behind this finds out we’re figuring things out? They will go over to another plan. A plan we’ve got no knowledge of.”

“I know, Ezra. They can decide to cut their losses and run, or they can decide to strike again, leaving even more damning evidence behind, framing me for a second murder.”

“You forgot about a third possibility.”

Tony frowned. “No, I haven’t.”

Ezra glared at Tony. “They can decide to kill you.”

“Ah.” Tony nodded. “I didn’t think about that. You’re right, they can decide to kill me.”

Ezra rose to his feet. “I’m pulling the plug on the op.”

“WHAT!” Tony jumped up. “You can’t do that!”

“Yes, I can. And I am.” Ezra crossed his arms.

“Over my dead body.”

“Well, it seems that someone is trying to arrange that. So, you might get your wish fulfilled earlier than what you think.”

“I will not allow it.” Tony fumed.

“I don’t give a flying fuck what you will allow or not. I am your superior officer, and if I say this op is over, then it’s over. You understand me, Detective DiNozzo?”

“You will be throwing years of intel into the water. We will never be able to go after Westrope again.”

“I know that, Tony, but your life is more important than that.”

“It’s not. The op comes first.”

“NO!” Ezra roared. “We’ve had this conversation before. The op doesn’t always come first. I’m sick and tired of you always willing to give up your life to make sure the bad guys get taken down.” He took a deep breath. “Don’t you get it, Tony? The person behind this either knows you from being Westrope’s right-hand man, and is trying to frame you for murder, to get you out of the way, or it’s someone who knows who you really are, and is trying to get rid of you by framing you for murder, hoping that your cover will get blown so that Westrope kills you. Don’t you get it? Your life is in danger.”

“I know.” Tony sounded deflated.

“What would Westrope do if NCIS keeps hanging around?” Langer spoke up.

“In what capacity?” Tony frowned as he walked to the window and stared down at the people below.

“The trying to piss you off capacity?” Langer asked with a question in his voice.

Ezra frowned and Tony grinned.

“That won’t work,” Ezra responded.

“I disagree, it will work.” Tony didn’t need to turn around to know that his best friend was glaring at him. “Westrope has an ego bigger than Mount Everest.”

“Really? I haven’t noticed.”

Tony ignored Ezra. He turned away from the window. “He loves conducting meetings and closing deals right under the noses of law enforcement.”

Ezra sniffed.

“It’s true.” Tony rubbed his neck with his hand.

“What do you mean?” Langer looked between the two police officers.

Ezra stared at Tony, and when the other man failed to respond he sighed. “In the four years we’ve been on this op, more than half of the meetings he conducted with buyers and sellers were done in places where cops like to frequent.”

“Cop bars?”

Tony burst out laughing. “Westrope would have a heart attack if he has to step a foot into a cop bar. No, he frequents those restaurants where the Commissioner, or the deputies like doing lunch.”

“Doing business right under their noses?” Langer sounded skeptical.

“He’s got friends in high places and is of the opinion that no one would dare to double cross him in such establishments. Can you imagine what the blowback would be if a gunfight erupts and the Police Commissioner gets killed?” Tony rolled his eyes. “Everyone is always on their best behavior.” He sighed. “It’s actually quite boring sometimes.”

Ezra cocked his head. “Your alter ego is shining through.”

“And?”

“It’s off-putting.”

Tony bowed his head and took a deep breath. When he looked up again, he appeared exhausted. “It’s time we wrapped things up here.” He cleared his throat. “I think it might work if we let NCIS hang around where I meet up with Westrope. Make sure you’re only there when I’m there. I don’t need you to scare him off, not at this stage of the game.”

“He won’t pack up and bail?”

“No, as I said, his ego won’t allow it. He might make waves about NCIS tailing me, but it might get the person who’s after me to play their hand.”

“And kill you,” Ezra piped up.

“Or, expose himself, and NCIS can catch a killer.”

Langer nodded at the words. He stood up and reached out to shake the detective’s hand. “We’ll see each other around.” He grinned as DiNozzo rolled his eyes and Ezra shook his head as all three men made their way out of the room.

Tony came to a halt when he spotted Gibbs leaning against one of the very bright orange pillars. “If you’re trying to blend in, I’ve got bad news for you.”

“I’m supposed to apologize to you.”

Tony huffed. “Save it. We both know that won’t happen, and even if you did manage to get an apology out, it won’t be sincere.”

Gibbs grunted, turned and left.

“I can’t believe you find him attractive.”

Tony shrugged at Ezra’s statement. “I’ve got bad taste in men, what can I say.” He shared a grin with his best friend before both of them made their way out of the building.


	5. Chapter 5

“I see you’ve picked up a tail, Dominique,” Armando Westrope said as he scolded at the agent who took a seat at a table across from them.

Dominique snorted. “Pesky little bugs, I tell you.” He shrugged. “If they want to waste their time following me around like a dog, then let them do it.”

“And what about my business?” Armando huffed.

Dominique slowly turned his head.

“What?” Armando demanded.

“Are you worried about NCIS, Armando? You, the great antique dealer who’s got friends in high places. Scared? Or is there something you’re not telling me?” Dominique played with a steak knife that he continued to roll over his fingers. He acted utterly bored.

Armando’s hand snaked out and caught Dominique’s wrist. He grabbed the knife with his other hand and rammed it into the table. “Don’t you dare insinuate that I’m working for NCIS. I will cut your balls off and personally feed them to you.”

The restaurant had gone eerily quiet.

“Touchy this morning, Armando?” Dominique leaned back in his chair. “I merely meant that perhaps they’re on your case about their dead sailor. That’s all.” He kept his posture relaxed.

Armando let go of Dominique’s wrist and tapped him on the hand. He didn’t reply as he took up his utensils and started to eat his lunch.

Seeing that the other man wasn’t going to answer, Dominique pulled the knife from the table and placed it to the side. He’d finished his lunch so he sat back and watched Armando demolish his bloody steak.

Armando’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he fished it out. He swallowed first and then answered it. A grin appeared on his face. The call didn’t last long before he placed it back in his pocket.

“You look like the cat who ate the canary.”

Armando nodded. “I’ve managed to secure that elusive Qing period vase I’ve been after for so long.”

Dominique grinned. “When can we pick it up?”

Armando sighed. “There’s a bit of a snag in that. Seems that I first have to visit the man who owns the vase before I can take custody of it.”

“Mmm, one of those.” Dominique rolled his eyes. “When are we leaving?”

“He still has to confirm but be ready to leave at any given time.”

“Are you taking your own packers?”

Armando nodded. “The best there is.”

“I’ll make the arrangements.” Dominique rose to his feet.

“Dominique,” Armando said.

“Yes?”

“Lose your tail – permanently.”

Dominique nodded and left without a word.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

**Duarte Residence**

“You’re going to pace a hole through the floor.”

Dominique grunted but didn’t stop walking up and down.

Ezra stood up and intercepted Tony as he turned yet again. “Stop it.”

Dominique looked up. “This is the last deal.”

Ezra nodded. “I know.”

“I need to get the seller on this side of D.C.”

“I know.”

“We need to tie everything up. No loose hanging bits.”

“I know.”

Dominique frowned. “Can you say anything else except, ‘I know’?”

“Can you say anything else, except repeating the same stuff for more than an hour?” Ezra counter argued.

“No, I haven’t.” Dominique frowned.

“Tony,” Ezra responded with a sigh. He pulled Tony by the arm and pushed him into one of the overstuffed chairs. “You’ve got something else on your mind. It’s been a while since you’ve stressed like this.”

“I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about,” Dominique huffed.

Tony’s response made Ezra growl. He took his friend by the shoulders and shook him hard. “Stop it, you’re not Duarte. You’re Anthony DiNozzo.”

“I am Dominique Duarte. There’s no space for Anthony DiNozzo,” he replied.

“You’re losing yourself to someone who only exists on paper.”

“If Duarte only existed on paper, I would’ve been dead a very long time ago.”

Ezra lowered his head. Tony’s answer was the exact reason why he insisted on running the undercover operation with this man. “You’re saying you’re the ruthless second-in-command of a major international arms dealer, who wouldn’t hesitate one second to kill.”

“Yes.” Dominique looked up. “I don’t have a choice.”

Ezra softened his tone. “Talk to me, Tony.”

“I’m scared.”

Ezra closed his eyes. “About returning to a normal life.” He made it a statement.

Dominique nodded once.

Ezra placed his hand on Tony’s shoulder and squeezed it hard. “You’re not alone.”

“No?” Dominique lowered his head. “I’ve been someone else for four years. Outside of these walls, outside of Westrope’s circle, I’ve got nothing.” He snorted. “I don’t even have a fucking goldfish.”

“You’ve got me, my friend, and I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

Dominique nodded and rubbed his hand over his face. “You need to contact Langer. Tell him to back off.”

“I’ll do that.”

“Thank you.” Dominique rose from his chair. “I need to make arrangements.”

“Keep me in the loop.” Ezra hugged his friend once before he used the secret passage and disappeared.

Dominique walked over to a large ornate mirror. He stared at himself for a long time. “I am Anthony DiNozzo.” He gave a weak smile, turned back and squared his shoulders. The man who made his way into his study was once again Dominique Duarte.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

One thing that Dominique Duarte had in common with Anthony DiNozzo was the fact that he jogged. Most mornings around five, he would warm up before setting off on an eight-mile run. He would push himself hard, focusing on his breathing and how his feet pounded the ground beneath him.

In the last four years, he’d come to recognize a few faces of those other runners who, like him, loved to push themselves to the limit. They never slowed down or jogged on the spot to exchange greetings. Instead, they would simply nod their heads in greeting before passing by.

For the last couple of months, a new face joined the popular route. Dominique nodded as the man passed and immediately put him out of his mind. He turned left and headed down the narrow trail that led into the park. It was a circular route, and it took him through a fairly secluded part of the park. But the trail was clearly marked and as far as he knew, there was little criminal activity in the area.

A steep incline made his legs burn and he breathed deeper as he pushed harder. He turned when he heard a sound at his back and something slammed into him. He stumbled and fell forward as a shot echoed through the wooded area, and Dominique rolled down the hill and landed hard against a fallen log. He didn’t show any sign of movement as blood dripped from the gaping wound in his back and landed on the ground beneath him.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

**Washington Memorial Hospital**

Ezra ran. He pushed several people out of his way as he sped towards the information desk. More than one person called out after him, but he ignored them all. He skidded to a halt and slammed his fist on the desk. In his other hand he held his police credentials.

“Anthony DiNozzo, what’s his status?”

The young receptionist behind the counter jumped at his abrupt demand for attention. She fumbled with the keyboard before finally managing to type in the name. She frowned. “We don’t have such a patient.”

“Look again. I was told he was admitted here.”

She retyped the info and shook her head. “Nothing. I’m sorry.”

Ezra swore underneath his breath as he ran his hand over his face. He bit into his bottom lip. “Try Dominique Duarte.” He clenched his fists as he felt his hands tremble.

The receptionist nodded and typed the required information. She bobbed her head. “He’s on the fourth floor, surgical ward.”

“Thank you!” Ezra managed to spare her a smile as he turned and ran towards the stairs. He didn’t have time to wait for an elevator. As he pushed the door to the staircase open, he couldn’t help but to wonder about the events of the past hours.

He should’ve known something was wrong when Tony had failed to check in this morning. He should’ve acted earlier. It was a rookie mistake and it was on him. He’d heard the report on the police scanner of a shooting incident in the park but ignored it. He only realized that something was going on when he got an alert that someone had run Duarte’s identity. It was a beat cop. He’d contacted the officer, who told him that Tony had been shot. The officer had no idea which hospital Tony had been taken to.

It had taken him more time than he wanted to find the correct hospital, and then he mistakenly asked for Tony instead of inquiring about Duarte. At least no one had been near when he slipped up.

Ezra took the stairs two at a time and within a few minutes found himself on the fourth floor. As he did not want to attract more attention than was necessary, he took a few deep breaths to calm himself, straightened his tie and made sure his shirt was tucked in before he exited the staircase calmly. Or at least he hoped he appeared calm, because on the inside everything was tied up in knots. It had been a while since he last prayed, but as he neared the duty station, Ezra said a quick prayer.

He pulled his credentials out of his jacket pocket and held them in his hand. As the nurse looked up from the computer screen, he showed it to her. “Lieutenant Bates, Washington P.D.”

“Yes, Lieutenant, how can I be of assistance?”

“Dominique Duarte was admitted earlier today following a shooting incident. What is his condition?” He hated the fact that he had to keep it professional; where he wanted to beg her to tell him everything. He didn’t want to know as a police officer, he wanted to know as Tony’s friend.

“I thought Mr. Duarte’s doctor already discussed his condition with the police?” she replied with a frown.

“Mr. Duarte is a very important man. If the Commissioner sends me to come and ask for an update, then I get an update.”

The nurse nodded. “I understand. The attending doctor is still doing his rounds. Would you like me to page him for you?”

“Yes, please.” Ezra sighed in relief. If he could speak to the doctor himself, it would suit him just fine. “In the meantime, how is he doing?” He tried not to sound worried and hoped he didn’t fail.

“His condition is stable, but he will be in ICU for at least the next couple of days.” 

“Will he be all right?”

“He’s got a long recovery ahead of him, but he’s still fairly young and fit.”

Ezra wanted to ask if he could see Tony, but that would be pushing it too far. He indicated to the small waiting room across the nurses’ station. “I’ll wait there.”

The nurse nodded and then continued working on the file in front of her.

Ezra entered the pristine white room and had to wonder how they managed to keep it all so white. There wasn’t even a scuff mark on any of the chairs. He stood anxiously when someone spoke up behind him.

“The room was refurbished a couple of weeks back.”

Ezra turned. “It seems you’re able to read minds.” He reached out with his hand. “Lieutenant Bates.”

“Dr. Brad Pitt. I’m Mr. Duarte’s attending physician and a pulmonary specialist.” He smiled when he saw the lieutenant frown. “No, I’m not kidding.”

“Bet your patients get a big laugh out of this.”

Doctor Pitt nodded. “They do.” He cleared his throat. “You wanted to speak to me in regard to Mr. Duarte?”

“Yes. What’s his prognosis?”

“The bullet entered the upper left back with a downward trajectory where it exited at the lower right. It caused muscle and tendon damage. He suffered from a pneumothorax in the left lung, and although it’s been surgically repaired, I do have concerns. There was no damage done to Mr. Duarte’s spine. He should recover. It’s going to take a while before he’ll be on his feet again, but I’m optimistic.”

“Is Mr. Duarte’s lungs going to give him problems in the future?”

“For a police officer you’re very concerned about my patient.”

“We’ve got a long history.”

Doctor Pitt stared at the man across from him. “The bullet caused extensive damage to Mr. Duarte’s lung. We managed to repair the damage, but the lung’s functionality has been compromised.”

Ezra blanched at the news. This could jeopardize Tony’s career. “How much?”

“It’s too early to tell right now.”

“Could it heal completely?”

“In my opinion, I’d have to say no. But then, some of my patients have proven me wrong.”

Ezra nodded. “Can I see him?”

“Only for a minute.”

“Thank you.” Ezra followed the doctor to the ICU ward. He tried not to show fear when he was told to scrub and then suited up in medical scrubs. It included booties for his feet, gloves, a head cover and a mask.

“He’s in isolation and we’re keeping the area sterile. Any bug that enters his system now could be deadly. He’s also on a ventilator and in an induced coma.”

Ezra’s ears buzzed and his vision threatened to turn to black when he first laid eyes on his friend.

“Lieutenant Bates?”

Ezra looked up and found himself staring into the eyes of Dr. Pitt. “Yeah?”

“You all right? You look a bit peaked.”

“Low blood sugar.” Ezra gave him a thin smile. He took a deep breath. “How long will you keep him in a coma?”

“At least for the next forty-eight hours. It’s a fine balancing act that we’re doing here. Being on a ventilator can cause additional health problems like pneumonia, but at this stage I deem it necessary for his recovery to keep him in a coma.”

“Thank you.” Ezra moved towards the sealed door. “There will be a police officer stationed outside 24/7.”

“Why?”

Of course Ezra couldn’t say _‘because I said so’_ , but at least he had an answer ready. “I’m only working on orders, and there was an attempt on Mr. Duarte’s life. We have no idea if the perpetrator might try again.”

“Understandable. As long as the officer doesn’t hinder us in our duties, there should be no problem.”

“Thank you.” Ezra made his way out of the hospital. He was so trapped in his own mind, he didn’t even notice the man that stared after him as he climbed into his car and drove off.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

**Gibbs’ House**

Gibbs placed the sandpaper block on top of the hull as footsteps descended the basement stairs.

“We got a case, Langer?” he asked his second-in-command came into view.

“No, Boss.”

Gibbs hummed. He picked up the sandpaper again.

“Detective DiNozzo was shot this morning.”

Gibbs’ hand slipped and his head snapped up. “He okay?”

“In ICU, but he’s holding his own.”

“What happened?”

“He was shot while out on a run. Was hit in the back.”

“Paralyzed?” Gibbs heard himself asking.

Langer shook his head. “Not from what I heard.”

Gibbs moved away from his boat and emptied a jar of screws and poured a healthy shot of bourbon. He held the jar out to his senior field agent.

“You apologizing, Gibbs?” Brent took the offered jar and took a sip. He grimaced at the taste.

Gibbs didn’t reply.

“Because if you are, you know it’s not me you should be apologizing to.”

Gibbs grunted.

“I reached out to some of my old buddies from the Bureau.”

“Yeah, about what?” Gibbs had no idea where this conversation was headed.

“They’ve been running an op of their own on one of Westrope’s partners.”

“Are they aware of DiNozzo’s op?”

Langer nodded.

Gibbs frowned. “Washington PD doesn’t know about it.”

Langer shook his head. “FBI decided to keep them out of the loop.”

“For how long?”

“The op’s been running for just under a year.”

“DiNozzo and Bates have no idea?” Gibbs growled. He hated working together with other agencies, because the more fingers in a pie the better the chance of that pie ending up a mess. But the one thing he did believe in was that players from different agencies should be aware of one another. This was dangerous. This was exactly why he was so angry with DiNozzo. Although the op had nothing to do with NCIS, there should’ve been some kind of bulletin to say there was an ongoing operation with a undercover detective.

“Thing is, the FBI lost contact with their agent two days ago.”

“He’s been taken out?”

“That’s their fear,” Langer replied with a nod.

“Are they thinking that Westrope and his partner might suspect something and started cleaning house? He put the hit out on DiNozzo?”

“That’s their line of thought.”

“You don’t agree,” Gibbs stated.

“Disagreeing is a strong word. I’m not convinced.”

“What’s bothering you?” Gibbs drank the last of the bourbon from his jar.

“Westrope keeps his hands clean, that’s why it’s been so difficult to pin anything solid on him. DiNozzo has been catching the smaller fish around him, tightening the net with every deal they run. If Westrope suspects that DiNozzo is not who he says he is, he would’ve seen that DiNozzo gets taken out in something like an accident. He wouldn’t want the cops sniffing around him.”

“Shooting DiNozzo would bring the cops to him, asking unnecessary questions,” Gibbs agreed with a nod.

“As it is, he would have to answer questions as DiNozzo was shot. He’s not going to like that.”

A glint appeared in Gibbs’ eyes.

“What are you thinking, Boss?”

“That we should pay Westrope a visit.”

“On what grounds?”

“On the grounds that our main suspect in an ongoing murder investigation got shot. We’re allowed to ask questions.”

“It’s going to ruffle some feathers.”

“Mmm,” Gibbs hummed. “Let’s hope we can shake some chickens loose.”

“You still think DiNozzo is involved in the commander’s death?”

“I think someone wants us to believe that,” Gibbs replied. “Meet me at Westrope’s office tomorrow at 09:00.”

“Will do, Boss.” Langer emptied his jar and placed it back on the wooden bench. With a final nod, he made his way back up the stairs and out of Gibbs’ house.

Gibbs waited until he was sure the man left before he reached for his phone and dialed a number. It got answered on the second ring. “I need a favor.”

The call didn’t last long, but when he ended it, he felt more at ease. Gibbs knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep – not yet. He reached for the sanding paper again, and with easy strokes, he let himself get lost in the simple task of sanding down the boat.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

**Westrope Office Complex: Following morning**

“I’m sorry, sir. Mr. Westrope is not available at the moment,” the receptionist said with a smile.

“It’s Agent Gibbs, not sir, and you’ve got five seconds to tell him NCIS is here to see him, or we burst through those doors.”

She blanched at the words, and made a quick call. She replaced the phone and looked up. “You can go in.”

Gibbs and Langer made their way over to the double doors. He was not surprised to see them open up even before he reached them.

“First, you harass me and my associate at a private luncheon, accusing him of murdering one or another soldier, then, you have the balls to follow him around and now, what do you want now? Or are you of the opinion that he shot himself?” Westrope stood behind his desk, his knuckles white as he gripped the table.

Gibbs eyed the two burly bodyguards as he passed them. “Commander Rhys was a Navy officer, not a soldier. And we’re here more to ask if you know who shot Mr. Duarte.”

“What the hell are you implying? That _I_ shot Dominique?”

“No, not you personally. You never get your hands dirty. But you might have an idea who did it.”

Westrope turned white, then a red hue pushed upwards from his collar, over his cheekbones to the point of his ears. He took a deep breath. “Get out.”

“No,” Gibbs shook his head. “Mr. Duarte is still a person of interest in our ongoing investigation on the murder of Commander Rhys. Him now getting shot gives me the right to ask questions. You can either answer them here, or you can be escorted to our offices where we can conduct a formal interview.”

Westrope took a deep breath and visibly calmed himself down. “I didn’t know the dead commander. I don’t know if Dominique knew the man. I don’t know who’s responsible for shooting Dominique.” He sat down behind his desk. “I’ve answered your questions. Get out of my office.” He picked up a pen and started writing. He didn’t look up again.

Gibbs gave a small smile, glanced at Langer next to him, turned on his heel, and exited the office. He didn’t utter a word until they reached the elevators.

“Westrope is not involved in Rhys’ murder,” Langer said. “He didn’t even know the commander was a sailor.”

Gibbs merely hummed. “Mr. Westrope’s one bodyguard had a prison gang tat on the back of his right hand.”

“Yeah, I noticed. Want me to run it?”

“Do that,” Gibbs responded. As far he knew Westrope had no affiliation with any gangs, so why would he have a bodyguard in his service with a gang tattoo. Something didn’t add up.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

**Police District 29: 2 Days after the shooting**

Ezra sat down heavily behind his desk. It had been more than a month since he had last entered his own office. He’d already reported to his captain and the higher-ups. To say that they were all concerned would be the understatement of the year.

His desk phone rang and for a moment he had no idea how to answer it. Finally, he picked up the handset. “Lieutenant Bates.”

He listened to the voice on the other side of the line. “You sure?” He dragged his hand across his face. He needed a shave. “Thank you.” He ended the call and lowered his face into his hands.

“Fuck!” He shouted and slammed his fist down onto his desk. He rose to his feet and made his way over to his captain’s office. He knocked once and entered.

“Ballistics came back from the slug retrieved from DiNozzo.” Ezra took a deep breath. “The markings on the slug suggest that it was fired from a Glock used in a gang execution murder eight years ago. DiNozzo was primary in that case.”

“DiNozzo is targeted by a gang? It’s got nothing to do with Westrope?” The captain asked, perplexed.

Ezra could only nod. Things just got a whole lot more complicated and it seemed that Tony was right in the middle of things.


	6. Chapter 6

**Washington Memorial Hospital: 4 Days later**

Ezra nodded at the officer who stood guard at the door and then entered the room. It was long after visiting hours, but it was the only time he could take a chance to visit his friend. Tony looked better since he’d seen him almost twenty-four hours ago. He was no longer in isolation and the ventilator had been removed. It looked like he had a bit more color on his cheeks.

Ezra silently sat down on the chair and bowed his head. He was bone tired. The last time he got any sleep was the night before Tony got shot. Ezra had personally led the investigation in Tony’s shooting and there wasn’t a rock that he hadn’t overturned. Unfortunately, he had nothing to show for his efforts.

Ezra had even gone so far as to request the original case file from eight years back. He wasn’t surprised about the high quality of the file. It was clear that Tony had worked the case. But now, it had been eight years ago when it had hit a dead end, there was nothing new to go on.

When the door to Tony’s room opened, Ezra had his weapon out and pointed at the door. When he saw it was Gibbs, he wondered if he should lower it or if he should shoot the bastard. He decided that Tony wouldn’t be impressed with him if he took the shot. He lowered his weapon but didn’t re-holster it. Instead, he left it on top of the sheet that covered Tony’s legs.

“Want to tell me why you went to bug Westrope?” Ezra asked, remaining seated.

“My lead suspect in a murder investigation got shot. Of course I’m going to go and ask questions.”

Ezra managed not to roll his eyes. He knew Gibbs only referred to Tony as the _lead suspect_ for appearances. “Your interference made it nearly impossible for me to get the answers I wanted. All because you stuck your nose in where it didn’t belong.”

Gibbs remained silent. He focused his attention on the man in the bed. “How’s he doing?”

For a moment Ezra thought of being a bastard, but it wasn’t in his nature. “Better. The doctor is optimistic that he’ll be back on his feet in a few weeks.”

“I heard his lung sustained some serious damage?”

Ezra nodded and tightened his lips. “Yeah.”

“Will he be able to return to active duty?”

“It’s DiNozzo that we’re talking about. He will, and he will do it in less time than anyone suspected it could be done.” Ezra didn’t mention his own doubts.

Gibbs made a noise in the back of his throat.

“What does that mean?” Ezra fisted his hands.

“If my information is correct, then the chance of DiNozzo returning to active duty is almost zero.”

“If you knew the answer, then why the fuck did you bother to ask?” Ezra stood up.

“Because I like to verify facts.”

“You’re a real fucking bastard, Gibbs.”

“Yep. That’s why there’s a second _b_ in my last name.”

“What do you want here?” Ezra sat back down. He didn’t have the energy to fight with the NCIS agent.

Since Gibbs never beat around the bush, he asked it straight. “Since when is Westrope into gangs?”

Ezra blanched at the question. There was no way Gibbs knew about the slug and where it came from. It meant there was something else going on. “Where do you get that information?”

“You’re not denying it.”

“I don’t have time to play games, Gibbs. If you have failed to notice, my best friend got shot and is lying right there.” He pointed to the hospital bed.

“I’m not playing games either, Lieutenant Bates. You, on the other hand, might not be playing games, but you are too emotionally attached to this case. Don’t you think it would be better to step back and let someone else handle this investigation?”

Ezra growled. “This is _my_ investigation. No one will be taking it over. Now tell me why the hell you are here or get out.”

Gibbs glared at the other man before he finally answered. “When we went to talk to Westrope, one of his bodyguards had a gang tattoo on the back of his right hand.”

Ezra frowned at the information. “None of Westrope’s guards have any visible tattoos.” He rose to his feet. “You sure?”

“Saw it with my own eyes.”

“Which gang, do you know?” Ezra’s mind raced.

“York Street gang.”

“From Philadelphia.” Ezra locked gazes with Gibbs.

Gibbs nodded. “You know your gangs.”

Ezra shook his head. “No, not really.” He made a decision. “The slug removed from Tony’s back was fired from a Glock used in an execution murder eight years ago. It was a York Street gang hit.”

“How is it connected to DiNozzo?”

“He was the lead investigator.” Ezra got up and paced the room.

“Case ever solved?”

“Still open.”

“And according to you, Westrope has no affiliation with any gangs?”

“Nothing. He might be a scumbag, but he never worked alongside any gang. It’s not his style.”

“Then why the hell does he have a gang member as his bodyguard. More importantly, why hasn’t DiNozzo mentioned it to you?”

“Describe the bodyguard,” Ezra demanded in a low voice. He glanced at Tony, who was still sleeping deeply. “And keep your voice down.”

“Six-foot-four, two-hundred-forty pounds. Heavily muscled. Brown hair, gray eyes. Clean shaven.”

Ezra frowned. “That’s not one of Westrope’s bodyguards.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, a hundred-percent.” He took out his phone and started typing away. After a minute or two he handed the phone to Gibbs. “That’s photos of all Westrope’s bodyguards.”

For a moment Gibbs struggled with the phone but then he remembered Langer told him once before to swipe left. It worked and he paged through the photos. “When was the last time this was updated?”

“Two days prior to Tony getting shot.”

Gibbs hummed. “I have a feeling that this bodyguard is a new placement as a result of DiNozzo being shot.”

Ezra shook his head. “Can’t be. Westrope will never appoint a new guy on his security team, not with Tony being shot, and especially not without Tony’s input.”

“Could he be strong-armed into something like that?”

“I doubt it. Westrope can be pretty cutthroat. And what would the gang’s stronghold over him be?” He paced again. “What the hell is a Philly gang doing in D.C.? Something’s not adding up.”

Gibbs grunted in agreement. “You going to investigate the gang angle further?”

“Yeah.” He looked down at this sleeping friend.

“You worried about his safety.”

“I am.” Ezra couldn’t deny the fact.

“I’ll keep him safe.”

For a moment Ezra thought about rolling his eyes and laughing, but something in Gibbs’ tone made him realize that the NCIS agent was serious. “Why?”

“I don’t believe in apologies. But in this instance, I have to admit, I was wrong about DiNozzo.”

“I’m glad to hear that, although it doesn’t help you say that to me. You should tell him.” Ezra indicated to the man in the bed.

“I will.”

Gibbs’ honesty astonished Ezra. He also knew that Gibbs would keep Tony safe. He just didn’t know if Tony would allow it. His friend could be very hard headed sometimes. “He’s still undercover.” Ezra lifted his hand before Gibbs could speak up. “He won’t step back, Gibbs. He will want to see this through.”

“How far is this op from coming to an end?”

“What’s that?” Ezra frowned when he saw a fleeting expression of concern on Gibbs’ face.

“What’s what?” Gibbs sounded impatient.

“That.” Ezra made a circle with his finger around his face. 

“Your face?”

Ezra growled. “You had an expression on your face for a second before your face went blank. I saw it. What was that about?”

“You saw that.”

“I did. Now, what was that?”

“The FBI has been running an op on one of Westrope’s partners for almost a year.”

Ezra shrugged. “We knew about that.”

“How?” Gibbs asked, surprised.

“Tony.” Ezra sighed. “There’s very little that gets past him. He made the agent right away. Got a photo, we ran it, got a dead end, took another direction and found our answer.”

“Did the agent know?”

“No. Tony decided to leave him in the dark. It’s safer for both of them.”

“You also didn’t inform the FBI that you know about their agent.”

“Correct.”

“Why not?”

“Why should we? It’s not as if they told us about theirs.”

“I hate inter-agency politics.”

Ezra grinned. “Tony says the same thing.”

“The agent is missing.”

Ezra blanched at the news. “When?”

“Around six days ago.”

“Shit.” Ezra dragged his hands through his hair. “That can’t be a coincidence.”

“Didn’t think so either.”

“What are you not telling me?”

“Called in a favor from an old friend.”

“And?”

“Still waiting on the feedback.”

Ezra sighed. “What was the favor about?”

“Needed to find out if the missing FBI agent had any contact, however slim it might be, with the York Street crew.”

“You think he took Tony out.”

“The other theory is that he was taken out.”

“You don’t believe it.”

“My senior field agent shared his concerns with me.”

“Langer is a wise man.”

“He is indeed.”

“Shit, shit, shit!” Ezra wanted nothing more than to throw a tantrum. But that would be childish, and if there was one thing he wasn’t, was a child.

“No time to fall apart now.”

Gibbs’ words made his hackles rise and he growled. When he looked at Gibbs the other man stared at him with intent. “I won’t,” Ezra said.

“Good. You still need to tell me, how far from the end is this op you’re running on Westrope?”

“One major deal away.”

“Will it go ahead without DiNozzo?”

“Normally I would say no, but with the possible involvement of a Philly gang, I don’t know.” Ezra pressed his lips together. “The other problem we have is that if the deal goes through without Tony present, we’ll have nothing on Westrope, and four years of work will go down the drain.”

“DiNozzo will not be impressed.”

Ezra snorted. “He’ll go ballistic.”

“Would he be able to convince Westrope to postpone the meet?”

“Yes, but once again, we don’t know the hold the gang has on Westrope and how that may influence the man’s choices.”

“Will he tell DiNozzo if he is asked about the gang?”

“Only if he wants to. Westrope keeps most things close to the chest.”

Ezra watched as Gibbs rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. “Let’s hope that Westrope will hold out until Tony is in a position to either talk to him or go with him to the meeting. I’ll keep Tony safe and chat with my buddies at the FBI. You continue with your investigation.”

For a second Ezra closed his eyes and bowed his head. When he looked up again, he locked gazes with Gibbs. “Promise me you’ll keep him safe?”

“I promise.” Gibbs looked over to where DiNozzo still slept. Nodded at the lieutenant and then exited the room. He would come back later and take over from Bates.

Ezra sat down on the side of Tony’s bed. He had no idea what was going to happen in the next couple of days, he could only hope for the best.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

**Washington Memorial Hospital: 9 Days later**

A thin sheen of sweat covered Tony’s brow as he finally leaned back against the crappy pillow. “Fuck,” he gulped a few times for air before he finally got his breathing under control. He used the wet cold cloth in his hand to wipe away the sweat. It made him feel refreshed almost immediately.

“You know, it would go faster if you used the oxygen.” Brent Langer played with the nasal cannula between his fingers.

“Fuck off, man.” Tony managed to take another breath and found his heart rate as well as his breathing were finally calming down. He couldn’t believe how out of breath he was, and he had only walked to the end of the hall and back again. But he wouldn’t give up.

Doctor Pitt had had a long conversation with him. Told him that the possibility of him ever returning to active duty was less than ten percent. The news had taken his breath away, and wasn’t that ironic? It also angered him. He’d reached a decision right there and then. He wouldn’t give up. He peppered the doctor with questions, got his Mac from Ezra and started doing research. With the research, Tony started exercising. More than once he nearly fainted, but he was stubborn enough to keep himself on his feet. He pushed himself to the limit. The first few times he pushed himself over the limit, and paid for it. He had been placed on full oxygen for twenty-four hours. Doctor Pitt had threatened to shackle Tony to the bed if he tried to remove the bulky oxygen mask. He had quickly learned his _new_ limits, and he took himself as close as possible to them before he pulled back. He was going to return to duty even if it killed him.

Tony looked at the man making himself comfortable in the chair next to his bed. When he’d woken up three days ago, Brent Langer was the first face he saw. It had left him confused. Luckily the man saw it in his expression and told him what was going on. Tony had tried to throw a tantrum, but was out of breath even before he started. Langer took that time, as he gulped for air, to make a strong case as to why NCIS should keep him safe. At first, he didn’t like it, but he could also understand Ezra’s position. It didn’t mean that he and Ezra didn’t have a shouting match about it.

Between Ezra working the gang angle, and hell, he had no idea how they had become mixed up in everything, he saw very little of his best friend. What bothered Tony more, was the fact that he couldn’t give Ezra any description of who had shot him. He hadn’t noticed anyone behind him, and he had been unconscious when he hit the ground, so he had been in no position to say if he anyone had run away after he was shot.

Gibbs and Langer took turns keeping him company throughout the night, and they would only leave an hour or so before visiting hours in the morning. Brent helped him with his exercises. Gibbs helped him trying to figure what the hell was going on. Of course, Westrope had decided that now was not the time to confide in him. And until he saw the bodyguard with the tattoo for himself, he couldn’t confront the older man. Whenever Westrope came to visit, his bodyguard was one of the men Tony knew, and never the tattooed one.

It had left him frustrated and grumpy, but he was a professional and he made sure that none of those emotions were ever visible when Westrope was around. The only good thing was that Armando had made it clear that he wouldn’t go through with the deal unless Dominique was right next to him. But Tony wasn’t sure if he could trust the man.

That, on the other hand, placed more pressure on Tony as he knew they couldn’t stall forever. He’d set his first goal. He would be out of this bed and hospital by the end of the week. Today was Thursday. By tomorrow he wanted to be back in his own house, and his own bed.

Tony’s eye caught the clock above the door. The day nurse would be in soon. “You need to get going.”

Brent looked up from the book he’d been reading. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll be back later tonight. Anything I can bring along for you?” He held up his hand when Tony opened his mouth. “Except coffee. No coffee until Doctor Pitt has cleared you.”

Tony groaned. “You’re just as bad as he is.” He shook his head. “Nothing else.” He tried to stifle a yawn but wasn’t successful. He flipped the NCIS agent the bird as the man grinned at him.

“Get some sleep, Tony. You’ve got about an hour’s time before it’s visiting hours.”

Tony hummed but didn’t respond as he drifted off to sleep.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

“Dominique.” Armando greeted his right-hand man with a smile.

“Armando.” Dominique returned the smile. He pushed himself a bit upwards and indicated to the chair next to his bed. “Please, sit.”

“Thank you.” Armando looked at his friend. “You’ve got some color back on your cheeks. It’s good.”

“I’m feeling better.”

“Mmm.” Armando looked around. He tapped with his hand on his thigh.

“You all right?” Dominique asked with a frown.

“Fine, I’m fine.”

“Armando,” Dominique said with a sigh. “I know you, you’re stressed about something, what is it?”

“No, no. You’re imagining things.” He slapped his hand on this thigh. “How is your lung? You doing the exercises as ordered by your doctor?”

Dominique rolled his eyes. “Yes, _mother_ , I am doing my exercises religiously. He’s quite impressed with my progress.”

“Don’t be sassy with me, Dominique. I’m old enough to be your father and I do care about you,” Armando snapped.

Dominique rolled his eyes. “I am sorry. Lying around here all day, doing nothing, is driving me up the walls. I’d rather be next to you, taking care of business.”

Armando’s posture stiffened before he shook his head. “No, don’t be silly, Dominique. You need to stay in bed, even if it drives you up the walls. You need to get better. There’s nothing I can’t handle myself.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.” Armando tapped Dominique’s hand as he rose to his feet. “Speaking of business, I need to get going. I’ve got some meetings to attend.”

“In connection with the Qing vase?”

“No, not at all. Some smaller issues that I need to deal with.”

Dominique stared at the older man. “I’ve been your right-hand man for more than four years, Armando. I can tell when something’s going on. What’s got you spooked?”

“Your medication is making you see things that are not there. I need to leave.” He made his way to the door.

“Send in Pete, I need to talk to him,” Dominique ordered. He didn’t care that Armando was the boss.

“He’s not on duty,” Armando replied, but kept his back to the man in the bed.

“What do you mean he’s not on duty? He is your primary bodyguard; he’s supposed to be with you at all times when you’re not at your house or at your office.”

Armando’s shoulders sagged. “I fired him.”

“You fired Pete?” He asked in total disbelief.

“Yes, he stole from me.” Armando turned. “Get well soon, Dominique.” Without waiting for a reply, he opened the door and exited the room.

“FUCK!” Dominique cursed. He reached over, ignored the pain in his side and back as he stretched to get hold of his phone. His hands trembled as he finally had the phone in his hands. He scrolled down and then hit the call button.

“Brandon, get your ass here. Make it quick, don’t let me wait!” He ended the call before he received a reply. Dominique tossed the phone down on the bed and covered his face with his hands. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” He repeated the mantra. Ezra and Gibbs were right, something was going on. He just had no clue what it was. He still had no idea why the York Street gang would be here in D.C. or, for that matter, be involved with Westrope. Nothing was making sense.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

“Enter!” Dominique ordered as a knock at the door sounded around twenty-minutes later.

Tony’s bodyguard entered the room with a smile on his face.

“Brandon,” Dominique greeted the bodyguard.

“Boss, you’re looking for me?”

Dominique came right to the point. “What’s going on with Mr. Westrope? Why did he fire Pete? The man worked longer for him than anyone else.”

Brandon rubbed his nape with his hand as he looked down at the floor.

“Brandon,” Dominique growled.

“Boss.” He shook his head and then he looked up.

Dominique saw the fear in the man’s eyes. He sighed. “What’s going on, Brandon? What did Armando do?”

Brandon threw his hands in the air. “Nothing!”

“It can’t be nothing. Something’s going on and I need to know what it is so I can fix it.”

“I promise, Boss, Mr. Westrope did nothing. These thugs showed up at his house. They shot Pete, took Mr. Westrope into his study, and when they came out, Mr. Westrope introduced one of the men as his new business partner.”

“Did the guy have a name, and when the fuck did this happen?” He tried not to think about Pete’s death.

“The same morning you got shot, Boss.”

“And you didn’t think of telling me this earlier?” Dominique held up his hand. “Sorry, that was uncalled for. It wasn’t as if I was available.” He stared at the large man. “Why didn’t you come to me yesterday, or the day before? You know I would’ve tried to do something.”

“You got shot, Boss.”

“Yes, but I’m not dead.” Dominique groaned out of frustration. “What happened to Pete’s body?”

“In Mr. Westrope’s walk-in freezer.”

“Of course it is.” Dominique shook his head. “Sit down. You’re going to tell me everything about everyone who was there and you’re not going to leave a single thing out. Is that understood? Start with the man’s name.”

“Understood, Boss.” The burly man took a deep breath and started relating everything that had transpired at Westrope’s home on the day Dominique got shot.


	7. Chapter 7

**Washington Memorial Hospital: Day 15**

“You ready to get out of here? You know it’s almost midnight. I can’t have you change into a pumpkin.” Langer asked as he swung the bag over his shoulder.

Tony rolled his eyes. “More than ready.” Tony stuffed his toiletries and other small items into a second bag, and looked up. “Thank you for doing this.”

“What, carrying your bag?” Brent grinned.

Tony rolled his eyes. “For being here. I know it’s your duty, but…”

“Wow, stop right there.” Brent held up his hand. “This might’ve started out as being my job, but I would like to think that we became friends. And as your friend, I have no problem being here.” He shrugged. “And someone had to kick your ass and get you out of bed, instead of letting you wallow in self-pity.”

“Wallow in self-pity? Me?” Tony shook his head. “You’ve got the wrong guy; I never wallow in self-pity.”

“Not now, but in the beginning, yeah, you did.”

Tony stared at the man across from him. Finally, he bowed his head. “Thank you, again.”

“Good, now that that’s settled, what do you say, let’s get out of here?” Brent picked up the second bag and swung it over the other shoulder.

“Let’s go.” Tony turned to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything in the room before he exited. He groaned when he found the nurse with a wheelchair in the hallway. “Seriously?”

She smiled at him. “Hospital rules.”

Tony sighed as he settled himself down. He groaned when Brent dumped one of the bags in his lap. “What the hell?”

“What? I’m not your pack mule.” The corner of Brent’s mouth lifted in a wry smile.

“And there I thought I would treat you with a carrot.”

Brent barked out laughing as he took over from the nurse. Tony nodded his thanks and the two men made their way to the elevator. Being so late at night, the hospital had an eerie feeling to it.

Brent pushed the wheelchair up next to his truck before he put on the brakes and took the bag from Tony’s lap. He tossed both bags into the back and held the front passenger door open for Tony. “Your chariot awaits.” He bowed at the waist.

Tony snorted in laughter as he gingerly got into the truck. “You should’ve been an entertainer.”

“I wanted to join the circus when I was a kid.”

“What happened?”

“Clowns,” Brent replied seriously.

Tony shuddered. “I get you. Being a federal agent is much better. You don’t have to deal with clowns.”

Brent got into the truck and started it. “So, I’ll be dropping you off at the safe house and you’ll make it back to Dominique’s home?”

“Yes, take me there and I’ll manage the rest myself,” Tony ordered.

Brent did a double take and he had to admit, he was in awe. From joking a few seconds back, to now, Tony DiNozzo had changed into Dominique Duarte. It was amazing to see it, but it was also scary at how good Tony was at this sort of thing.

They completed the trip in silence and made it into the house unnoticed.

“I thought Ezra would be here?” Brent asked after Tony unlocked the door and entered what appeared to be an empty house.

“He’ll be back on duty tomorrow morning.” Without looking back at the man with him he continued to talk. “You can leave the bags right here. I don’t need them now. Thank you.”

Brent physically took a step back. He had clearly been dismissed. For a second, he thought about taking Tony on, but in the end, he knew Tony had a part to play. He nodded and without a word left the house.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

**Dominique Residence: Following morning**

Dominique grimaced as he completed the last of his breathing exercises. He grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from his brow, then he looked at the time. With sure movements, although much slower than normally, he made his way over to his phone and pressed call.

“How are you doing, Boss?” Dominique inquired as he walked to the kitchen. “I’m back on my feet. When can we meet? I know you must be anxious about obtaining that vase.”

His knuckles whitened as he heard Armando try to discourage him from meeting. It made him want to go over there and kick the man in the balls. However, he knew that wasn’t an option. Not yet, in any case.

“No, I’m on my feet. I don’t need to be in bed,” Dominique said to Armando. “We’ve got a lot to discuss. These two weeks placed a lot of your business on the back burner. We need to meet and discuss how we are going to handle the backlog. I’ve got a meeting in an hour. I’ll meet you at the office in two hours.” He didn’t give the other man a chance to respond, merely ended the call and dropped the phone on the counter.

Ezra came through the secret passage and frowned at Tony. He held Tony’s bags in his hands. “I’m not your butler.” Ezra tossed the bags on the floor.

“Good morning to you as well.” Dominique looked at the other man over the brim of his coffee mug.

Ezra huffed. “What’s this about you going to Westrope’s office in two hours?”

“It’s called doing my job. That’s what I’m paid for.”

“Are you crazy? You were shot sixteen days ago. You nearly died. You still need to take it easy.” Ezra looked around. “And where is your fucking oxygen?” He didn’t see the small portable canister anywhere.

“I’m well aware of the fact that I was shot sixteen days ago. However, I am not dead, and there’s no time to take things easy.” Dominique ignored the question about the oxygen. He would not use it. He would appear weak.

Ezra tried again. “You’re risking your health.”

“No, I’m not. I am the second in command to an international arms dealer. Who, if by chance you’d forgotten, is on the brink of closing the biggest weapons deal of this decade. I have to be there. We cannot get the ammunition against Westrope if we don’t keep the ball rolling. And, yes, that pun was intended.” He pushed down Doctor Pitts’ words that he might not be fit for active duty. At least he knew Pitt wasn’t going to share any of the information with anyone, unless there was an official request from his superiors. Until then, it had nothing to do with them. Not even with Ezra.

“I can order you to stand down.”

Dominique slammed the mug down. It shattered on impact. He looked down at the fragments, shook his hand free of the coffee droplets and made his way over to where Ezra stood, stunned.

“Go ahead and order me, Lieutenant, and you will then explain to the brass why we’ve spent millions of dollars of the taxpayers’ money and have nothing to show for it. I am here to do my job. Your job is to have my back. Do that.” He turned away and started cleaning the mess from the counter.

“There will be a team in position at the office when you arrive.”

Dominique nodded, but remained silent. He stood at the counter until he was sure that his friend had left before he turned around. “Fuck!” He leaned with his elbows on the counter and took some deep breaths. His chest hurt and he had trouble breathing correctly. He knew he’d overstepped a major boundary with Ezra, but he had to do it. Dominique carefully took another deep breath and then stood up straight. He had to focus on doing his job.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

When Brandon brought the car to a halt, Dominique turned. “You sure this Mr. Baker will be here?” When he informed Ezra about what he’d learned from his bodyguard, Ezra did a search on their mysterious player but couldn’t find a single hit. It was clear that the name Baker was not his real name. And because he couldn’t ask Brandon for a photo of the guy, they had no way of doing facial recognition on the mysterious man. He was still irked that the surveillance team that was supposed to cover Westrope 24/7, were not at the house when the man showed up for the first time. Apparently, the teams were changing shifts and there was a mix up. To say that he wasn’t impressed when he heard about it, would’ve been putting it lightly.

The team had tried to capture a picture of the man in the meantime, but it seemed that luck wasn’t on their side. It meant that he was going in blind. Fucking fantastic.

“Yeah, every time Mr. Westrope is in the office, he shows up.”

Dominique frowned at the information. Westrope was a ruthless businessman, but he had a very unpredictable office schedule. For their unwanted guest to show up each time Westrope came to the office, it meant someone tipped him off. That angered him. It seemed that they were dealing with a mole, on top of everything else. “Except for Pete being _fired_ , did Mr. Westrope employ anyone new in the past two weeks?” Dominique looked at his bodyguard as the man considered his question.

Brandon shrugged. “Not that I know of.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, except for the new cleaning crew, no one new.”

“I would say they’re new.”

“Didn’t think they mattered. The old contract didn’t get renewed, and they started cleaning the whole building a week before you got shot.”

Dominique managed not to groan. “Understood.”

Dominique reached for the nine-millimeter pistol holstered at his side. He’d left the .38 Special at home. Dominique normally used a double shoulder holster, but with his surgery, it was too uncomfortable, and he had to settle for the side one. After he checked the weapon, he placed it back. “Let’s get going.” He opened the passenger door and got out of the SUV. He took a look around as he put on his sunglasses. The two men made their way to the lobby of the building.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

Dominique was aware that more than one person stared at him as they made their way to the private elevator. As usual, he greeted no one, just stared stoically in front of him as they entered the metal box and the doors closed.

On the top floor, Brandon exited the elevator before him, and proceeded cautiously to the corner office. Brandon pushed the office door open and came to a halt. “Boss?” he asked Dominique.

Dominique could see why Brandon was alarmed. Four men stood near Armando, and although they didn’t seem to be an immediate threat, they all had the York Street gang tat on their right hands.

Taking a chance that he wouldn’t be gunned down in the middle of Westrope’s office, Dominique spoke softly, “It’s okay, Brandon.”

Brandon stepped aside for Dominique to enter. He closed the door behind them and stuck close to Domiqiue’s side.

“Armando,” Dominique said with a smile as he closed the distance between him and his employer. Now that he was free of all the pain medication, he could see the older man had lost weight and appeared haggard. He ignored the other men in the room.

“Dominique, as timely as ever,” Armando greeted, with a tight smile.

The two men shook hands and moved through to the boardroom that they used for their meetings. Brandon and the unknown bodyguards followed as well.

“You looked stressed. Something going on that I need to know about?” Dominique asked.

“Nothing, nothing at all.” Armando took his seat. “You want your usual?”

“Yes, please.” Dominique sat down.

“Pete...,” Armando looked down and cleared his throat. “Sorry, old habit.” He looked up again and addressed the bodyguard at the door. “Ask Miss Ferguson to send it through please.”

“I’m not a fucking messenger.” The man sneered.

Before Armando could respond, Dominique was out of his seat and pushed the man hard against the door. He managed to lock the door in seconds and held his gun to the man’s forehead. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Brandon had pulled Armando behind him. The bodyguard had his firearm out and pointed at the rest of the men in the room.

“We haven’t had the opportunity to be introduced to each other. I don’t know who you are, and I really don’t care. However, what I do care about is the fact that sixteen days ago I got shot, luckily for me not fatally, but still shot, and it hurt like a fucking bitch. To make things worse, I then learned that my employer had a new business partner, one that I know nothing about. And that, I don’t like.” Dominique placed his finger on the trigger. “I know you’re just a minion, placed here with your pals to keep an eye on Mr. Westrope, and that you’re only doing your job. Well, I’m going to make you an offer right now. And if I were you, I would listen very carefully to that offer and make a wise decision. “Do you understand?”

“Fuck you,” the man hissed through his teeth.

Dominique shook his head. “Wrong answer.” With a smile he lowered the weapon and pulled the trigger. He didn’t worry that anyone would hear the shot. Westrope’s boardroom was soundproof.

The man screamed and fell to the floor and clutched his foot. Dominique bent down and pulled the man up by his collar. He pressed the hot barrel against the man’s forehead again. “Stop screaming, you’re not fucking dying!” Dominique knew there might be a possibility that the man could die, but he couldn’t care at the moment. He also knew he would face serious consequences for shooting the guy, but then, it wouldn’t be the first time either.

He shook the man hard as he moaned out in pain. “Now, are you going to listen to my offer, or do you want me to shoot you again?” Dominique smiled as he posed the question.

“My fucking foot!”

“Wrong answer.” Dominique lowered his weapon again.

“No, wait, I’ll listen, fuck, I’ll listen!”

With a sneer on his face, Dominique removed the man’s weapon, slid the magazine out, and tossed the weapon to the side. He pocketed the magazine and then released the hold he had on the man, and watched as he dropped to the floor. “Good choice.” He turned to the rest of the men. “Anyone else who wants to get shot?”

The remaining men merely raised their hands.

When he received no answer, Dominique moved to the table. “Remove your weapons, place them on the table and move back. Interlock your hands behind your heads, go to your knees and cross your ankles.” He waited patiently for them to follow his orders as he tried to breathe as deeply as possible. He wouldn’t let anyone notice, but that stunt had winded him.

Dominique finally got his breathing under control and turned to where Armando still stood behind Brandon. “You all right, Boss?”

Westrope nodded.

“Good.” Dominique shifted his focus to Brandon. “You keep Mr. Westrope safe, or I will personally shoot you myself.”

“Yes, Mr. Duarte.”

Dominique nodded at the response. He approached the table, removed all the magazines from the pistols and tossed them to the side. He left the weapons on the table and then made his way over to where the man he had shot still remained lying on the floor. “You ready to hear my offer?”

“Yes.”

“You will tell me everything about who you work for, how many of you there are, and most importantly, what the fuck are you doing here?”

“What’s the offer?”

Dominique barked out a laugh and shook his head. “You are really here just for the money. The offer? Easy, tell me what I want to know, and you will leave here alive. Choose not to tell me, and you will leave here in a body bag.” He pulled out a chair and sat down next to the man on the floor. Dominique placed his pistol on the table and kept his right hand on it.

The man blanched.

“Clear?”

The man nodded.

“Then start talking.”

He talked. He answered every question put to him. He even went as far and offered up more information than Dominique wanted.

“Well done. Final question.” Dominique rose to his feet. “This Mr. Baker, he is just a minion like yourself, of that I am certain. Who is the real boss?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never laid eyes on him. Baker alone deals with him. I swear.”

“I believe you.” He first collected the man’s weapon from the corner of the room and handed it back to him. He then went over to the other men and looked them over. “Get up,” he ordered. When they all stood before him, he stood out of their way. “Collect your weapons, take your buddy and get out of this building.”

None of the men hesitated, but did as they were told and with their wounded buddy between them, they unlocked the door.

Before they could exit the boardroom, Dominique spoke up again. “Give Mr. Baker a message from me. Tell him, I’m coming for him, and for the one who is pulling his strings.”

None of the men uttered a word as they left.

Miss Ferguson stood flabbergasted in the outer office with a tray in her hands. She looked as though she was about to knock. She watched as the strange men that had come in over two weeks walking past in silence on their way to the elevator. When the door closed behind them, she straightened her back and smiled. “Your usual, Mr. Duarte?”

“Thank you, Miss Ferguson.” Dominique took the tray from her and retreated into the boardroom. He placed the tray on the table and closed the door. It was only him, Armando and Brandon left in the room.

“Baker should’ve been here. He always shows up.” Armando paced the room.

Dominique poured himself some coffee, and Armando, some tea. He indicated to Brandon to get whatever he wanted. “Here,” he handed the cup to Armando.

“No, thank you.” Armando continued to pace the room. “Did you stop him from coming here today?” Armando came to a halt and turned on his heels.

Dominque stared out in front of him. “How?”

“I don’t know, you tell me.”

Dominique smirked. He pulled out a small device from his pocket and held it between his fingers.

“What’s that?” Armando reached out to take it but withdrew his fingers at the last moment.

“Cell phone jammer.” Dominique placed it back in his pocket.

Armando closed the distance between them, and hugged Dominique hard. “Fucking brilliant.”

“I know.” Dominique looked around the room. “Brandon, clean up the magazines.” He turned back to Westrope. “Except for this Baker guy, has anyone else been in contact with you, and what the fuck do they want? Do they know you could have their balls for breakfast, and why the fuck didn’t you, Armando? I’ve seen you. You’re one ruthless son of a bitch, what the fuck happened?”

Armando’s shoulders sagged. He slowly shook his head. “I’m getting too old for this.” He sank down into the nearest chair.

“Bullshit.” Dominique squared his shoulders. “There’s something going on here that you’re not telling me. What is it?” He saw the moment Armando lost his temper with him, but he stood his ground.

Armando jumped to his feet and pushed Dominique back hard. In that moment he didn’t care that Dominique was wounded. “How fucking dare you imply that I have something to do with this! I built this company from scratch; I earned my reputation by myself and not you, nor any other fucking punk can say anything different.”

Dominique gently slapped the older man on the cheek and grinned. “There’s the spirit I’ve been looking for. For a moment I thought you’d given up.” He shook his head. “That would’ve been a shame.” He gave another step back and sat down on the nearest chair. His hands shook and he struggled to breathe. “Fuck.” He attempted to do one of the breathing exercises but it took him a few tries before he finally got his breathing under control.

“You should still be in hospital.” Armando placed his hand on Dominique’s shoulder.

“And leave you to the dogs?” Dominique shook his head “I’m your second in command. I make sure that every deal we do goes down without a hitch. I was here because you needed me.” He managed to take another deep breath. “Now, show me a photo, or paint me a picture, but I need an idea of who this fucking Baker is so that I can find out to whom he reports.”

Armando knew better than to try and stop the younger man. Instead, he sat down and pulled out his phone. He handed it over to Dominique. “That’s the only photo I have of him.”

Dominique sent the photo to his own phone before he studied it. He had never seen the man before. He would let Ezra take a look and see if he could get a lead on who this man was. More importantly, who he worked for.

“I still don’t know what a fucking gang from Philadelphia would want from me!”

Dominique shook his head. Something kept on nagging at him in the back of his head. He ignored Armando as the man started ranting. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the tattoos. He mentally flipped through different files filled with gang tattoos until he landed on the one he was looking for. Dominique opened his eyes and smiled at Armando. “They’re not from Philly.”

“What?” Armando sounded confused. “What do you mean they’re not from Philly? This fucking Baker introduced himself as the leader of the York Street crew. They had tats on their hands. I searched the tats, it’s the York Street gang tattoo.”

Dominique rose to his feet and snatched a pen from Armando’s jacket pocket. He grabbed Armando’s hand and drew the tattoo on. “That’s how their tats look like?”

Armando nodded and Brandon came closer and also took a look. He nodded in agreement as well.

Dominique took Armando’s other hand and drew on it again. He showed it to Armando.

“It looks the same to me.”

Dominique sighed. Lifted both Armando’s hands and placed them side-by-side. “The tattoo on the left hand is the one all the goons have. The one on your right hand is the correct gang tattoo.”

Only when Armando looked at the two tattoos side by side, did he notice the difference. “The down leg of the _Y_ is straight. While the other _Y_ ’s leg has some sort of a scribble down at the end.”

“Correct. That _scribble_ as you call it, is actually an _S_.”

“You sure?”

Dominique managed not to roll his eyes. “A York Street member gets the _Y_ when he’s first initiated into the gang and passed his first test. For example, when he robs his first convenience store on his own. The _S_ gets added later, after their first kill. No high-ranking member of the York Street gang will walk around with bodyguards that haven’t earned their _S_. It’s unheard of.”

Armando frowned. He wouldn’t have even noticed the difference if Dominique hadn’t shown it to him. “How do you know all this?”

Dominique smirked. “As you know, Boss, I’m a man of many hidden talents.”

“Are you saying someone played me?” Fury filled Armando’s voice.

Dominique nodded. “Yeah, Boss. But we still need to find out by who and why.” And when he did find out, there would be hell to pay.


	8. Chapter 8

**The Diner: 2 Days later**

Tony would’ve preferred a booth, but the diner was full, and he had to settle for a high chair in the middle of the counter. With a smile he ordered a cup of coffee and took a look around. Most of the patrons looked relaxed as they chatted over mugs of coffee and large portions of breakfast.

The NCIS agent came in and took the seat on his left. Dominique turned his head. “Agent Gibbs.” He nodded.

“Mister Duarte,” Gibbs returned the greeting. He used the detective’s undercover name. He thanked the waitress who placed a large mug of coffee in front of him before she moved on.

“You come here often,” Tony commented as Gibbs didn’t even have to ask for the coffee.

Gibbs shrugged and took a sip of the hot liquid. “I’m not one for small talk.”

Tony grinned. “Don’t worry, I remember that.” He cleared his throat. “You never gave me a chance when we met the first time.”

Gibbs sighed. “You want to rehash that? It’s in the past.”

Tony shook his head. “It’s not in the past.” He tapped his index finger against his temple. “I remember it as if it happened yesterday.”

“Why? It’s five years ago.”

Tony curled his hands around the mug. “You accused me of being dirty.”

“Your partner was dirty.”

“Yeah, I know. I was the one who figured it out, remember? You found me at Danny’s place. You followed me there on a _hunch_.” Tony took a deep breath. “I waited for him to return, I arrested him. I testified at his trial. I was there when he was sent to prison.” He shook his head. “Baltimore shunted me. I was a gold shield detective with six years’ experience under the belt and I had nowhere to go.”

“You landed on your feet.”

“I did, but it came at a price.” Tony bowed his head. “A huge price.”

“I’m sorry.”

Tony lifted his head. “You’re apologizing?”

“Are you accepting?”

“Really, that’s it?” He exhaled.

“What more do you want?”

“Apparently nothing more.” Tony turned more to face the agent next to him. His chest hurt and he absent-mindedly rubbed it.

“You okay?” Gibbs frowned.

“Yeah, I am.” Tony took a few deep breaths. “I need a favor.”

Gibbs stared at him.

“You’re supposed to ask what kind of favor.” Tony growled when the man next to him remained silent. “Fine!” He threw his hands in the air. “I need you to check something out for me. Find out their whereabouts.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Tony handed it over to Gibbs.

Gibbs took the paper and opened it up. He frowned when he saw what was written on it. “You sure?”

“I don’t want to be.”

“Why are you not asking Lieutenant Bates to check this for you, or, more importantly, why don’t you check it out yourself?”

“I don’t want to have my name linked with the search.”

“Makes sense. My first question still stands. Why are you not asking Bates to follow up on this?”

“Because if it turns out that I’m right, he will yank me back so quickly from this case, my eyeballs will remain behind.”

“Don’t you think it will raise eyebrows if NCIS does a search?”

“Your geek agent won’t have a problem in getting the info.” Tony didn’t need to say more.

Gibbs shook his head. “I will look into it.”

“Thank you.”

“When do you think this op will come to an end?”

Tony shrugged. “Meeting is set with the buyer in two days’ time.”

“Mmm.” Gibbs shifted in his chair.

“What?”

“I make a mean cowboy steak.”

For a moment Tony had no words. He could only stare at the man next to him. He smiled. “You asking me on a date?”

“If you’re interested.”

Tony grinned from ear to ear. “When the op is finished, we can talk again.”

“Good.”

“Good.” Tony reached for his sunglasses and placed them on his face. He nodded. “Agent Gibbs.”

Gibbs looked on as the detective walked out of the diner. By the way he walked, he knew DiNozzo had transitioned from detective DiNozzo to Dominique Duarte. The man was brilliant in what he did.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

**Duarte’s Residence**

“You’re still pissed at me.”

Ezra glared at the other man. “What makes you think that?”

“Maybe the way your hand rests on your weapon. I’m pretty sure you want to shoot me.”

Ezra took his hand from his hip and folded his arms across his chest. “You crossed the line.”

“I kept people alive. I’m not going to apologize for what I did.”

“You shot an unarmed man.”

“Incorrect, he was armed.”

“His weapon was in his holster, DiNozzo!”

“I’m not sure what the problem is.” Dominique sat down. “I did what I had to do, and I will do it again.”

Ezra bowed his head. “There will be a formal inquiry held against you.”

Dominique remained silent.

“Don’t you get it? They want to pull you from this operation. You’re giving them all the tools they need to do that.”

“They won’t,” he replied with confidence.

“You’re too overconfident.” Ezra exhaled. “Tony.” He gazed at his friend. “The brass requested medical records.”

Dominique managed to school his facial expression in time. “They will sink this op.”

“They don’t care. Damn it, Tony, don’t you see it!”

“They will shoot themselves in the foot.” He rose to his feet. He had to change the subject. “You phoned me, told me you found something about the kid that mugged me?”

“Yeah, yeah, I did.” Ezra appeared tired. “We found him.”

“Dead?”

“Yes. Traced him to a John Doe that’s been in the morgue for a while.”

“Murdered?”

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

“How?”

“Stabbed.”

“Fuck!” He rubbed his face. “Most likely with the same knife he wielded at me.” Dominique lowered himself to sit back down. “Any leads?”

“Nothing yet.”

“It will end up being a cold case.”

“Not if NCIS finds Commander Rhys’ killer.”

Dominique nodded. He felt tired. He knew his breathing was not as deep as what it was supposed to be, but he didn’t have time to rest. He gazed up at his friend. “Have you located the blueprints of the building where the meeting will take place?” He had managed to convince the seller to meet on their side of town, but the seller shot down a warehouse he’d suggested. Instead, he proposed another place, one that they hadn’t used before and he had no idea on how it looked on the inside. He’d requested blueprints to have a mental picture of the place.

Ezra shook his head. “Still waiting on them.”

“Why is it taking so long?”

“I don’t know.”

“Damn it, Ezra, then find out!” Dominique shouted. He immediately raised his hands. “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for. I apologize.”

“Apology accepted.” Ezra took a closer look at his friend. Tony had dark circles underneath his eyes. His cheeks hollowed and he appeared pale. “You’re tired.”

Dominique nodded. “I am. But we’re so close, Ezra, then this is over and done. I swear, I’m going to sleep for a month.” He couldn’t help it as he yawned.

“Then get some sleep. I’ll bring you the prints the moment they’re available.”

Dominique shook his head. “Email them to me, I’ll work from that.”

Ezra snorted. “I know you, Tony. You work better with an actual copy in your hands. I’ll get them and I’ll bring them to you.”

Dominique’s shoulders sagged. His friend did know him well. “Thank you.” He rose from his chair and made his way down the passage to his room. He yawned again. “See you later,” he called over his shoulder.

“Use your fucking oxygen!” Ezra called out before Tony disappeared into his room. He grinned when he heard the other man mumble. He didn’t hear what Tony said, but he had no doubt that the man had sworn at him. It was a thing Tony would do.

Ezra let himself out through the secret passage after he’d set the alarm and made his way back to the safe house. It was time he lit a fire under city records to get those blueprints. There was no way he was letting Tony go in blind into an unknown situation. Not if he could prevent it.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

**Downtown D.C.: Warehouse district**

Dominique stood next to the back door of the limo. He had a tight grip on the handle as he surveyed the area around them. Brandon stood at his back; another four bodyguards surrounded the vehicle.

He took his time as he scanned the area. There was no way he’d let Westrope get out of the vehicle unless he was a hundred percent certain that it was safe to do. “All clear,” he spoke to Brandon as he opened the door and watched Westrope step from the car.

Dominique personally closed the door behind Westrope and then took up his position on the right.

“Let’s do this. I’ve got a round of golf this afternoon. I don’t want to miss that.” Westrope buttoned up his jacket and stepped away from the vehicle.

Dominique and the bodyguards followed. “Remember, the warehouse opens up to the left. The right side is divided into seven offices. Stairs on the left side lead to the first floor.” The ground floor was supposed to be empty as the meet would take place on the first floor. This floor was not divided into offices, instead, it was one large single room with no place to hide. No ambush could take place. Hopefully.

They entered the large space and Dominique immediately noticed that the doors to all the offices stood wide open. He gave a small nod as they moved towards the stairs. He placed a hand on Westrope’s shoulder and held him back.

“You will let Brandon get you out of here the moment the shit hits the fan.”

“You worried?” Westrope asked, concerned.

“Cautious is the word.” Dominique straightened his tie. He knew that Ezra and the team would be in place by now. They would only come in when the deal was done.

“I will.” Westrope headed up the stairs, tugged between his four bodyguards.

Dominique followed with Brandon on his heels.

“Where is everyone?” Westrope’s voice echoed through the empty space.

The hair on Dominique’s nape stood on end. “What the fuck?” He asked as he stepped onto the first floor. It was deprived of any other signs of life, except for the seven of them. Something didn’t feel right. “Get Mister Westrope out of here,” he ordered and reached for his sidearm.

Footsteps sounded at his back and he turned. His weapon ready in his hand.

“Sorry, we’re late. Traffic was a bitch.” A man stepped up on the last step. He was well over six foot in height and had a huge grin on his face. “Armando, so good to see you.” He ignored Dominique and walked forward. He reached out and grabbed Westrope by the shoulders and kissed him three times on the cheek before hugging him hard.

Westrope frowned even as he accepted the greeting. “I think it’s the first time since I know you that you’ve been late.”

The man shrugged. “It had to happen one time or the other.” He slapped Westrope on the shoulder.

Dominique watched the interaction between the two men. For the first time in his life, he was meeting the infamous Mikhail Yakovna. The man was one of the top arms dealers in the world. From Russian descent, he rarely came out to play. To bag him, would bring the sales of unlawful weapons to its knees.

“Mikhail, let me introduce you to my second in command.” Westrope indicated to Dominique.

“Ah, Mr. Dominique Duarte.” Yakovna grinned. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Mr. Yakovna, it’s an honor, Sir.” Dominique nodded in greeting.

“Nonsense, we don’t greet like that.” Yakovna moved forward, took Dominique by the shoulders and kissed him as well. He slapped him hard on the back. “There, that’s how it’s done.”

Dominique smiled. “Indeed.”

Westrope cleared his throat. “Can we get down to business?”

Yakovna burst out laughing. “Always so impatient.” He shook his head. “Tell me, Antonio, is he always like this, or only when he’s got a round of golf scheduled?” He had a glint in his eyes.

“You mean Dominique, I’m not Antonio.”

“Yes, no, sorry, you’re right, you’re not Antonio. You’re Anthony? That’s right, Anthony?” The Russian didn’t take his eyes off Dominique.

“What are you talking about, Mikhail? His name is Dominique, not Antonio, or Anthony, whatever you called him.” Westrope appeared confused.

“No? You sure, Armando? That’s not what I heard.”

Dominique turned cold but his facial expression remained passive. He knew Ezra could hear through his wire what was going on. He could only hope that his friend stayed put. He would handle this.

“You’re as crazy as ever, Mikhail. Old age is creeping up on you. Especially if you start mixing up peoples’ names.” Westrope slapped the larger man on the back. “I’ve brought your money, let’s get this deal over and done with. As you said, I’ve got a round of golf waiting for me.”

“No.” Yakovna placed his hand on Westrope’s arm.

“What do mean, no? You’re no longer interested in dealing with me?” Westrope sounded hurt.

“Not when you’ve got a pig in your employment, Armando.” Yakovna turned and glared at Dominique.

“What are you talking about? There are no cops working for me.”

“You sure?” He pointed a finger at Dominique.

Westrope laughed. “I can promise you; Dominique is as much of a cop as I am. You are mistaken. He is my second in command.”

“And if I can prove he’s a pig, what then?”

Westrope looked at the Russian. “Then I will kill him myself.”

“Good, then take out your weapon and shoot him!” Yakovna yelled.

“No!” Westrope looked rattled. His eyes found Dominique. “Tell him, Dominique. Tell him you’re not a cop.”

Before Dominique could respond, one of Yakovna’s bodyguards spoke up.

“Then he would be lying.”

“Who are you?” Westrope frowned.

Dominique frowned. The voice sounded familiar, but for a second he couldn’t place it.

“My name is Danny Price.” The man lifted his head. His eyes were filled with hate. “I was a detective at Baltimore P.D.”

“What? You accuse Dominique of being a cop, while you bring one yourself!” Westrope exploded in anger.

“No, listen to what he is saying. Danny _was_ a cop.”

“Once a fucking cop, always a fucking cop.” Westrope seethed.

“Not true for everyone, but still true for some. Isn’t that right, Tony?” Danny made his way over to where Dominique stood.

Dominique remained quiet. He knew he was screwed and knew he wouldn’t get out of this warehouse alive.

“Dominique?” Westrope sounded concerned.

Danny snorted. “He won’t answer you, but I can.” He turned and reached into his pocket. More than one pistol pointed at him.

“Easy boys, it’s only a photo.” He slowly removed it from his pocket. “You want to have a look at this, Mr. Westrope. Mikhail has already seen it.” He handed the photo over to Westrope.

Westrope took the photo and stared at it. “Who is the third man?”

“Major Frank Raimey,” Danny responded. “He was the commander of Baltimore P.D.” He sighed. “That was until Tony here ratted us out.” He turned to face Tony again.

“Myself and the Major had a little side business going on. You know, nothing big, it was just enough to keep us living nicely. But then Tony realized what was going on, and instead of keeping his mouth shut, he ratted us out. He fucking arrested me in my own home. He went to IA and together they went and arrested the Major in front of the whole precinct the following morning.”

“Dominique?”

Dominique remained quiet. There was nothing he could say. He looked on as Yakovna drew a weapon from the inside of his jacket and handed it to Westrope.

“Here you go, Armando. You said you’d shoot him. Do it. Do it now so that we can conduct our business in peace.”

Westrope took the weapon. His hand shook. He took a deep breath and walked over to where Dominique stood.

“You played me,” he whispered. “I trusted you.” He pointed the weapon at Dominique’s head. “Get on your knees.”

“No. If you want to shoot me, you’ll look me in the eye and shoot me. I’m not going to go on my knees for you to blow my brains out.”

The hit to the side of his head came out of nowhere and he stumbled forward. A second punch to his abdomen made his knees buckle and he landed hard on the floor. A hand in his hair yanked his head back. He looked up at Danny. The man had a Glock pressed against Tony’s head.

“I will fucking kill you myself.” Spit dripped from Danny’s mouth and landed on his face.

Tires screeched outside the warehouse. Hurried footsteps entered the warehouse. The noise level increased as the men realized that the police arrived. More weapons got drawn, men ran in different directions, all looking for a way out.

Tony remained on his knees and grinned. “Looks like I’m arresting you again.”

Danny roared and his finger pressed down on the trigger. Chaos erupted on the first floor as several shots echoed through the vast space.

Tony noticed the pistol as it fell from Danny’s hand. His chest burned and as he looked down his shirt turned crimson. He coughed once. Blood bubbles coated his lips. His eyes rolled over, and the darkness took him away.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

**Washington Memorial Hospital**

“Here, drink this.” Gibbs handed over the takeaway cup of coffee to the man seated on the chair. He waited patiently until the cup was taken from his hand before he moved away.

“How much fucking longer!” Ezra jumped up and hissed as he spilled the hot coffee over his hand. “Fuck.” He stumbled backwards.

“Easy.” Gibbs took the cup back and replaced it with a folded napkin. He looked on as Ezra dabbed his hands dry. The skin appeared bright red. “Go and hold that under some cold water.” Gibbs didn’t wait for a reply but steered the man in the direction of the restrooms. When Ezra entered and the door closed behind him, Gibbs’ shoulders sagged.

“Fuck,” he murmured as he pressed his head against the door. He closed his eyes, but they snapped open immediately. He didn’t want to revisit what they’d seen when they arrived at the warehouse. There’d been so much blood. Too much blood.

“You all right, Gibbs?”

Gibbs straightened when his senior field agent spoke up next to him. He nodded.

“Any word?” Brent inquired.

“Still waiting.” Gibbs paced.

“You want more coffee?”

“No, I’m all right.”

Brent wanted to speak up and say he didn’t think so but had a feeling that his comment wouldn’t be appreciated. He was about to ask where the lieutenant was when the restroom door opened and the man himself walked out.

“How does it feel?”

Brent frowned. He looked down when he saw Ezra staring at his hands. They looked red.

“Better.”

“What happened?” Brent asked, concerned.

“Burned myself with coffee.”

“Ouch.” Brent flinched. He knew how that felt. “Want me to get a nurse to have a look at it for you?”

Ezra shook his head. “No, it’s fine.” He moved back to the waiting room. He didn’t even look back to see if either of the two men followed him. Ezra took the seat he previously occupied. “Any news on Westrope, or the Russian?”

Brent shook his head. “Both are still in surgery.”

“The guy that shot Price?” Gibbs stood up and walked over to the window.

“Brandon,” Ezra supplied the name. “Westrope made him Tony’s bodyguard.”

Brent shook his head. “Declared DOA here at the hospital.”

Ezra lowered his head into his hands. “He might’ve worked for Westrope, but he was a good guy. He always had Tony’s back.” Ezra rose to his feet. He couldn’t sit still. “Tony’s going to be gutted when he finds out.”

“What the fuck happened in there!” Gibbs couldn’t take it any longer.

“Everything went to hell in a handbasket, that’s what happened,” Ezra replied tiredly.

Gibbs snorted. “That I got. What happened before that?” He turned away from the window. “Did you know?”

Ezra frowned. “Did I know what?”

“That Price would be there?”

“WHAT!” Ezra bellowed. “If I had known that fucking scumbag would be there, I would’ve taken him out myself.”

“You sure?” Gibbs closed the distance between them.

“Gibbs,” Brent warned his superior.

“What? What are you insinuating, Agent Gibbs?” Ezra balled his fists.

Gibbs lifted his head. “DiNozzo came to me three days back and asked me for a favor. He gave me a piece of paper. When I asked him why he didn’t look into it himself, he told me he didn’t want his name connected to the information. He also said, he didn’t want you to know, because you would pull him off the case.”

“What did he want from you?” Ezra whispered.

“You see, I don’t think that’s the case. I think he didn’t trust you,” Gibbs continued as if Ezra hadn’t asked a question.

“What did he want from you?” Ezra repeated his earlier words. He stood toe to toe with the NCIS agent.

Brent tried to step between the two men, but neither wanted to back down. He had a feeling they would be coming to blows soon. Normally his money would be on Gibbs, but the police lieutenant was huge and by the looks of him, he could pack a mean punch. Maybe that was what Gibbs needed at this stage.

“Boss, Lieutenant,” he tried again. When no one responded to him, he shrugged his shoulders and stood back.

“I’m not asking again, Agent Gibbs, what did Tony want from you?”

“You can’t guess?”

Ezra wanted to shake the man hard. “No, I can’t _guess_. What did he want?”

“He wanted me to find out where Price and Raimey were.”

Ezra frowned. “What?” He shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“Not?” Gibbs stood his ground. “He figured out who might be behind all of this. But instead of going to you, he came to me. He didn’t trust you. Did you betray him, Bates? Are you responsible for Tony getting shot?”

Brent was glad that he didn’t place money on Gibbs. Bates had taken half a step back, and before Gibbs could comprehend what was happening, Ezra’s fist collided with his jaw sending him to the floor.

“You fucking bastard! Ezra roared. He leaped forward to grab Gibbs by his jacket to punch him again.

Brent shoved the larger man away. “Enough!” He stood over Gibbs’ prone body. It seemed that Ezra’s one shot had rendered Gibbs unconscious.

“He fucking deserved that!” Ezra screamed as he pointed his finger in Gibbs’ direction.

“He did his fucking job!” Brent had enough. “Gibbs might be a bastard most of the time, but something like this happens, he never leaves a stone unturned until he finds out the truth. It was a natural conclusion to make.”

“You believe that?” Ezra took some deep breaths to calm down.

Brent ignored the question in order to see if he could get his boss to wake up. He lightly tapped him on the cheek. “Gibbs, Gibbs. Come on man, wake up.” He sighed as Gibbs groaned and opened his eyes.

“Stay down,” Brent ordered him and placed a bracing hand on his shoulder. He looked up at Ezra, who hovered around them. “And you, go stand over there before I decide to arrest your ass.”

“He deserved it,” Ezra repeated his words as he stomped away.

Brent ignored him and concentrated on Gibbs. The man appeared dazed. He dragged his hand through Gibbs’ hair and hissed when he found a large bump on the backside of Gibbs’ head. Seemed the man had hit his head hard against the floor when he’d gone down. He helped Gibbs to sit up and stopped him from wanting to stand up.

“Sit for a moment, I think you might have a concussion.” He turned Gibbs’ head as he tried to see how his pupils looked.

Gibbs slapped away his hands. “Let me go. I’m fine,” he grumbled. He tried to get to his feet.

Brent growled and pushed him down. “Don’t let me hit you as well. Stay put.”

Gibbs glared at him. He looked over to where Bates paced the room again. “You fucking hit me.” He gently touched his throbbing jaw.

“You deserved it.” Ezra threw his hands in the air. “How could you for one moment think that I knew Price was involved. I despised that man more than I will ever despise you.”

Gibbs moved his head and groaned.

“You thought Tony was dirty and it pained him, because during that one case the two of you worked together, he started to like you. Hell, he definitely respected you. That’s until you pulled the rug from underneath his feet with your allegations.” Ezra stopped pacing.

“But Danny, Danny’s betrayal hit him hard. It had him on the floor. He and Danny had been partners for two years. He told Danny everything that happened in his life. Danny was his mentor and his best friend. Did you know, he even planned on asking Price to be his best man at his wedding?”

Gibbs frowned. “DiNozzo’s wedding?”

Ezra snorted. “Yes, you didn’t know about that, did you?” He shook his head. “Tony was engaged to be married when he found out that Danny was dirty. I think his upcoming marriage to Wendy was the only thing that kept him going at that stage. Well, that was until the night before their wedding when she called everything off.”

“What?”

“Yeah, she claimed he wasn’t the _right one_ for her. She walked out of his life.” Ezra sighed. “He had to go through Danny’s sentencing hearing on his own. He had no one to turn to.”

“DiNozzo told you all of this?”

“Yes, one night when we had too much to drink. It was the only time he spoke about it,” Ezra replied.

“How did he end up with you?” Brent was curious.

“By that time, he was no longer employed by Baltimore P.D.. I’d heard about this detective that was an amazing undercover cop and I needed one. I approached him and convinced him to come and work for me.”

Gibbs had a feeling that there was more to the story, but he left it be. It was not his to know. His eyes landed on his watch. It had been seven hours since DiNozzo – Tony, was wheeled into the OR. The only thing that kept him going at that stage was to know that if the surgeons still operated, then it meant that Tony was still fighting. And if Tony was still fighting, then it meant they also had to continue to fight.

“The two of you good?” Brent had to ask. When both men glared at one another before nodding, he finally found that extra bit of tension leaving his body. “Good.”

He turned to Gibbs, stuck out his hand and pulled the older man to his feet. He made him sit on a chair. “Boss, you stay put. I need to find a nurse or doctor to check you out. And before you say a word, if you don’t stay put, I’m sure Lieutenant Bates will be more than happy to punch your lights out again to make sure you stay right here.”

Gibbs glared at him but remained seated where he was.

Brent walked over to Ezra and without hesitation he shoved the larger man against the wall. “I believe you, but if I ever find out that you betrayed Tony, your size will not help you, because I will come for you and no one will stop me. Understood?”

Ezra’s eyes grew large and he nodded. “I will not even put up a fight.”

Brent stared at Ezra for a long time. “Good. Keep an eye on Gibbs.” Without looking at either man again he exited the room.

Ezra and Gibbs stared at one another across the room.

“Damn, your second in command has balls,” Ezra broke the silence first.

Gibbs grinned. “That’s why he's my second.”

Ezra grunted. He took a seat next to Gibbs. “How’s the head?”

“Aching,” Gibbs admitted.

“Okay.” Ezra leaned back. “How long do you think they’ll still be busy?”

“Until they’re done.”

Ezra shook his head. “You sure have a way with words.”

Gibbs didn’t reply as the two men sat side by side waiting for news.


	9. Chapter 9

**Washington Memorial Hospital: 3 Weeks after the shooting**

Ezra sat with his head bowed, his hands clenched together on his knees. It had been an exhausting three weeks. But finally, today, Doctor Pitt indicated that Tony had taken a turn for the better. He wasn’t out of the woods yet, but his condition had improved to such an extent, that he was now cautiously optimistic that Tony would recover.

“Cautiously optimistic,” Ezra snorted as he lifted his head. “I don’t think you ever heard, or thought about those words, Tony. For you, it’s always been full steam ahead. I know that you will recover. I can already see you rolling your eyes at Doctor Pitt’s words and disregarding them as being nonsense.” He gave a small smile.

“I now understand why Gibbs left such an impression on you, Tony. These past weeks gave me insight to a man that I never would’ve even thought of becoming friends with, but now, now I can see the two of us getting together every once in a while, for a beer or two. Did you know he owns a cabin? Built it single handed himself. Brent told me he’s got a boat in his basement, but I don’t believe that. Well, unless it’s something like a kayak, because how the hell otherwise are you going to get a boat out of your basement?”

Ezra rose to his feet and stepped up to Tony’s bed. He placed his hand on Tony’s which was on top of the cover. “I’ve never known you to be quiet, Tony. This is now grating on my nerves. I need you to wake up and tell me one or another piece of trivia from either a movie or a book so that I can know that you’re going to be all right.” He bowed his head. “Please,” he whispered as he squeezed Tony’s hand.

Ezra looked up when someone entered the room. He smiled tiredly at Brent.

“They removed the ventilator.” Brent grinned from ear to ear.

“About an hour ago. Doctor Pitt says Tony’s lungs healed sufficiently that he doesn’t need a machine to breathe for him. He’s still on nearly a hundred percent oxygen, but he’s doing better.”

Brent tapped Tony’s leg. “Way to go, Tony!” He handed over a large coffee to Ezra. “He still in a coma?”

“Yes.” Ezra’s shoulders sagged. And that was the one problem, he tried, but failed miserably, to ignore.

“No improvement?”

Ezra shook his head. “Not yet.”

“It’s still early days,” Brent tried to sound optimistic.

“It’s been three weeks.”

“And he’s still fighting. That means we continue to fight,” Gibbs spoke up as he entered Tony’s room and heard the tail end of the conversation.

“You're right.” Ezra nodded. “We continue to fight, because he hasn’t given up.” He looked at his best friend. The nurses had shaved him this morning, so he didn’t look shaggy anymore. His skin tone was pale, but after being in bed for three weeks with no sun, it was acceptable.

“The FBI found their missing undercover agent,” Gibbs spoke up as he grabbed a bottle of lotion from the small side table and started massaging Tony’s hands and arms. It was his own personal ritual he established with Tony.

Ezra looked on as Gibbs’ hands travelled up and down Tony’s arms. Gibbs told them it was something that he learned doing when he was still a young boy after his mom got cancer. She always told him that it made her feel just that bit better. It worked for the blood circulation in Tony’s arms and legs as well.

“Where? Is he alive?”

“Dead. His body was found floating in the Potomac.”

“Do we know what happened?”

“The feds figured it out,” Gibbs explained. “My source at the agency also came through. First, the agent had no ties with the York Street gang, the original gang, or the fake ones. But he’d seen Price when Yakovna had a meeting with Westrope’s partner the FBI was investigating. He’d taken several photos of the man to run it by his handler, but there was one or other screw up and it didn’t happen.” Gibbs didn’t sound too happy about that.

“One of Yakovna’s guards that was captured at the warehouse came clean and told them that Price had made the agent as a fed, or a cop, and he told Yakovna of his suspicion. Yakovna in turn told Westrope’s partner, and the man took the guy out. It is believed that Price did that purely to show Yakovna that he held no love for any law enforcement officer.”

“Shit.” Ezra bowed his head. “It’s going to devastate Tony.”

“It wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t your fault either,” Brent spoke up. “We all know the risks involved in going undercover.”

“And the fact that the handler didn’t do his job?” Ezra looked down at Tony. He couldn’t even start to think of not having Tony’s back.

“A full-scale investigation is ongoing,” Gibbs responded.

“That won’t change what happened.” Ezra sighed. It wouldn’t help brooding over it.

“Westrope still breathing?” Ezra asked instead. He’d stepped down from the investigation, not wanting to kill anyone, and in the process, undo all of Tony’s hard work. It left him out of the loop. On the one hand it didn’t bother him much, but on the other hand – he hated not knowing what was going on. Luckily, both Gibbs and Brent kept him up to date.

“He gained consciousness late last night.” Brent took out his tablet and placed it at the foot end of Tony’s bed.

“Did he say anything?”

“Nothing much. He’s still too out of it.”

“Does he know?” Ezra’s eyes landed on Tony.

“No. Your instruction on that was very specific, Ezra. Everyone is complying with it. No information will be shared on Tony’s condition.” Brent assured the lieutenant.

“Good.” He looked up when a hand landed on his shoulder.

“Time to take a break,” Brent smiled. “It’s my turn to keep Sleeping Beauty entertained.”

Ezra returned the smile. “You know he will kick your ass if he hears you calling him Sleeping Beauty.”

“I can’t wait for that to happen.” Brent took one of the more comfortable chairs and moved it closer to the bed. “Where were we?” He opened the tablet.

Ezra sighed. Brent had become a good friend the first time around when Tony landed in hospital. It seemed that he planned on staying Tony’s friend for the long haul. It was good. He had a feeling Tony was going to need all the support he could get once he woke up.

“Let’s get out of here. I hate that book,” Gibbs grumbled as he steered Ezra to the door.

“What?” Brent asked, shocked. “There’s nothing wrong with Harry Potter, Gibbs. Nothing at all.”

Ezra laughed as the two men glared at one another. He knew Tony loved all kinds of fiction, including fantasy, while Gibbs tended to stick to the old Western books. He hadn’t said anything yet, but Gibbs might be surprised to learn how much Tony loved those books as well.

“Let’s leave them with their hocus pocus, Gibbs and get some breakfast. I’m starving.” It was Ezra’s turn to steer Gibbs clear of the room. He smiled as Gibbs grumbled again as the two of them made their way out of the hospital for a well-deserved break, while Brent stood guard over their friend.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

**Washington Memorial Hospital: 6 Weeks after the shooting**

“You okay?” Brent asked as he lowered himself back on the chair. He received no verbal reply, only a mere nod of the head to indicate that the question was heard. He watched as Tony closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. For a moment he thought about letting it be, but Tony had been wallowing in guilt since he woke up from his coma two weeks ago and learned what had transpired.

The man in the bed was still very weak, but he was slowly on the mend. Tony still had a long and hard road ahead of him, but he was alive and that was the main thing to remember. Except, that Tony didn’t see it that way. It seemed that he was going to let the guilt he felt hinder him in getting back into the world.

Doctor Pitt and a team of surgeons had to do a Thoracotomy together with a Segmentectomy procedure, where they not only opened his chest to get to his lungs, but they removed a segment of his left lung. The same lung that sustained damage the first time Tony had been shot. It had major health implications for Tony. For one, he wouldn’t be cleared for active duty. Although the procedure that they followed would allow Tony’s lung function to be better than if they did what was called a Lobectomy, his days as a police officer were over. He would never again be able to do field work. Not for any police force, and not for any of the many alphabet agencies around.

It had hit Tony hard. He’d barred all of them from his room and refused to see anyone. After two days, Ezra had had enough and had stormed into Tony’s room. The shouting match didn’t last long as Tony didn’t have the stamina to keep on shouting, but one thing did happen. Tony realized that Ezra wasn’t giving up on him, and neither was he or Gibbs. From there on they took things one day at a time.

“ _‘You’ve got the wrong guy, I never wallow in self-pity.’_ ”

Tony frowned. “What?” He opened his eyes.

“That’s what you told me when you got shot the first time, remember?”

Tony shrugged. “And?”

“It seems I got the right guy.”

“What does that mean?”

Brent ignored the question as he stood up. “I want you to look at something.”

“What?”

“Turn your head, please and look over here.”

Tony sighed and turned his head.

Brent pressed his finger against the monitor screen to Tony’s right. “You see this?”

“What about it?” Tony asked tiredly.

“You know what it is?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me,” Brent insisted.

“Why?”

“Because I want you to tell me.”

“I’m not in the mood, Brent.”

“I’m not asking much, Tony. Just tell me what this is.” He tapped against the screen again.

“My heart rate.”

Brent grinned. “Correct. What does it mean?”

“What the fuck?” Tony growled.

“Okay, I’ll tell you.” Brent continued to smile. “It means you’re alive.”

“And then you call yourself a fucking federal agent. Congratulations, you’ve managed to interpret a heartbeat,” Tony replied sarcastically as he closed his eyes.

“Thank you, but it’s not me who you should congratulate.”

“Yeah, who then, your mother, your teachers?”

Brent shook his head. “No. You.”

“You’re starting to piss me off, Langer.”

“Great, at least that’s something else then.”

“Get out,” Tony growled.

“No.” Brent moved away from the monitor and walked to the other side of the bed where there was less equipment around. “You’ve been wallowing in self-pity and I’m tired of it.”

“I’m not.”

Brent snorted. “And then you’re in denial as well.”

“Fuck off,” Tony snarled.

“No.” Brent leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Tony’s. He gently placed his hands on Tony’s face but made sure he didn’t interfere with the oxygen cannula. “It’s time that you realized two things. One, you’re alive, and two, there’s no reason for you to feel guilty about it.”

Tony’s breath hitched.

Brent continued. “Price is the one who blew your cover. Price is the one who shot you; who nearly killed you. Price blew Agent Matthews’ cover. His death is on Price’s hands. Not yours.”

“Brandon is still dead,” Tony whispered. “He didn’t need to die.”

“Brandon died a hero. Despite hearing that you were an undercover cop, the moment Price pointed his weapon at you, Brandon took action. He managed to take a shot at the same time as Price. His shot saved your life and ended Price’s life. If Brandon hadn’t shot Price right at that moment, Price would’ve shot you through the head.”

“And Westrope killed Brandon.”

“No.” Brent repeated the word when he saw the shock on Tony’s face. “No. It took a while for ballistics to be sorted out, but we finally got everything back. Yakovna shot Brandon. Westrope shot Yakovna and one of Yakovna’s guards put a bullet in Westrope.”

“You sure?”

“As sure as the ballistics is in this case,” Brent replied.

“Armando didn’t shoot Brandon.” There was relief in Tony’s voice.

“And Brandon’s death is not on your hands. Do you understand?”

“I do.”

“Finally!” Brent slapped Tony lightly on the shoulder.

“I still can’t be a cop.”

“I know.” Brent walked around the bed and sat down again. “But your experience and knowledge are not lost to the world of law enforcement. There’s so many other things you can do.”

“I don’t want to become an instructor at one or the other police academy or even at FLETC.”

“Have you ever considered becoming a liaison between the police and the different alphabet agencies, or even a consultant? I know you’ve got your Masters in criminology, Tony. You can become a profiler. The different agencies will pay you big money to consult for them.”

“You make it sound so easy.” Tony took a deep breath and hissed in pain.

“Easy,” Brent leaned over and squeezed Tony’s shoulder. “I know it’s not going to be easy, Tony. But, you’re not alone. You’ve got me, you’ve got Ezra, and you’ve got Gibbs. We will be there for you every step of the way. I promise.”

“I like that promise.”

Brent smiled. “Get some sleep. We will discuss your options in more detail when you’re up to it. Deal?”

“Deal.” Tony smiled and closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

**Washington Memorial Hospital: 2 Months after the shooting**

Ezra shook hands with the two detectives and the ADD as they filed out of Tony’s room. It had been a grueling three-hour debriefing session, but it was finally over. He looked over at Tony and his heart soared. He was extremely proud of his best friend.

“You did it.” He grinned from ear to ear.

“I did,” Tony replied tiredly. He yawned and blushed. “Sorry.”

“No need to be sorry. That was a long session.”

“I didn’t want to break it up.”

“I know, and I understand.” Ezra took his seat. “It’s over. It’s finally over.” It warranted repeating.

Tony bowed his head. “Five years to the day.”

Ezra nodded. It was indeed five years ago that Tony went undercover for the first time. “You did good, Tony.”

“What now?”

He and Tony already had a long and honest conversation after it was made clear by Doctor Pitt that Tony would never be able to return to active police duty. It was something that shook Tony hard, but it seemed that he was working through it. “Now you take the time you need to heal, and then you choose something that will keep your mind busy, and you put your heart into it and make it your own.”

“You’ve been spending too much time with Brent.” Tony smiled.

“He’s a good friend.”

Tony hummed in agreement and then he huffed. “I still can’t get over it.”

“Danny?”

“Yeah, Danny.” Tony moved around in the bed to get a more comfortable position. “When do I get out of here?”

“When your doctor says so.”

Tony rolled his eyes. He sighed and became serious again. “Was he right?”

“Danny?”

“Yes,” Tony replied with his eyes closed.

“No. He was not.” Ezra sighed out of frustration. “I’m going to say it again, and I will say it to you as many times as you need to hear it, Tony. You did the right thing.”

Tony shrugged.

Ezra grumbled softly. He would’ve given his soul if he could have one minute alone with Danny Price while he was still alive. Just one minute. Instead, he focused his attention on the man in the bed. “Danny was corrupt. You caught him and Raimey and you brought them to justice.”

“Danny thought I was in the wrong.” Tony opened his eyes stared at the sheet that covered his legs.

Ezra huffed. “He was a dirty cop. His opinion doesn’t count for anything in life.”

“You're right,” Tony conceded.

“You still don’t sound convinced. You don’t believe it? You’re saying that you were wrong, Tony? That you were supposed to turn your head and not turn him and the Major in?”

“So many innocent people would still be alive.”

For a few seconds, Ezra closed his eyes. He opened them and stared at Tony. His eyes were filled with guilt, but he continued on. “You can’t say that. You don’t know what would’ve happened if Danny and Raimey stayed on in the force. He went as far as to try and frame you for a murder because he found out that Gibbs thought you were dirty. He was trying to send you to prison for the rest of your life. When that didn’t work out, he took it further. Not only did he kill a Lieutenant Commander and a street kid, but he caused the death of an FBI agent and Brandon to get you back for doing your job. He also hired a punk to take you out. That tells me that he would’ve killed a lot of other innocent people if things didn’t go his way.”

Tony nodded tiredly. He’d seen the guilt in his friend’s eyes. Ezra had already apologized for not knowing that Danny had escaped prison. Tony didn’t find it strange. He had a feeling that Baltimore still held a grudge and that they on purpose made sure that D.C. didn’t find out that Danny escaped.

Gibbs and Brent had finally located the apartment where Danny had stayed. They’d found the scarf that the street kid had taken from Tony. There were traces of blood on it and the DNA came back belonging to the kid. They’d found an Ashwood baseball bat with smears of blood on it. It was Rhys’ blood. They found the .38 Special that was used to shoot the commander in the knee. How Danny had gotten hold of the Glock Tony had been shot with, remained a mystery.

The weapon did solve one other mystery. Who had shot Tony the first time. They had found DNA on the weapon that led them to a low-level street thug who had been approached by Danny, given a thousand dollars and was told to shoot Tony. He’d wanted Tony to be shot with that specific Glock. He’d demanded proof that Tony had been shot and had wanted the weapon returned. They found a photo of Tony lying in the path bleeding from the gunshot wound in his back at Danny’s apartment.

As for the fake York Street gang members – Danny had brought them in an attempt to take over Westrope’s operation. The man that posed as Baker was just another minion. There had been no one higher than Danny. He’d arranged things like that for the sole purpose of not being able to be pointed out by anyone should things go south. But after Tony had shot the one guy, things hadn’t worked out. The group of men had hightailed out of D.C. and that had just been another thing that had pissed Danny off.

They were still looking for the RX 350, but for all terms and purposes, NCIS had closed their case on the murder of Commander Rhys. Danny had killed him because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Tony knew it was time he brought this part of his life to a close. Not only his past in so far it concerned Danny, but also his life as Dominique Duarte. The man in whose skin he’d lived for five years died two months ago in that warehouse. No one outside a very few selected people knew that he was indeed still alive. With all of his notes, with all the other busts they made over the years, and with what had transpired in the warehouse they had more than enough to take down Westrope’s organization, as well as Yakovna’s. Not that there was much left to take down. Yakovna died of complications, and as his second in command was also killed on the same day, his subordinates had scattered.

Westrope had made a deal with the DA. He gave up all the information he had on any other arms dealers, and in return he would spend the next twenty-five years behind bars. When he got released from prison, he would be an old man.

Tony reached out and shook Ezra’s hand. “Thank you, Lieutenant Bates, for always having my back. It was an honor to work with you.”

“I am the one who should thank you, Detective DiNozzo. You went beyond your duty. Thank you.” Ezra stepped closer and hugged his friend hard. He had recommended Tony, and it was already approved, for the highest honor that could be bestowed on an officer of the law by the State of Virginia. It was going to be difficult not to work with Tony in the months and years to come, but at least Tony was still alive, and they would always remain friends.

****

**NCIS REVERSEBANG 2020**

**Gibbs’ House: 5 Months after shooting**

“It’s open!” The shout came from the inside as he knocked. Tony pushed the door open and stepped inside. He grinned from ear to ear as he took in the décor. It was as if time had come to a screeching halt in the mid-eighties. It was totally not his taste, but it suited Gibbs to a T.

He lifted his eyes and found Gibbs crouching in front of a fireplace. He couldn’t help but to stare at the tight ass in front of his eyes. The jeans Gibbs had on fitted his body perfectly. He felt himself drooling at the sight and leaned against the wall to ogle Gibbs for a while longer.

“Done staring?” Gibbs asked without turning around.

Tony blushed and cleared his throat. “For now.” He smiled as Gibbs rose to his feet and turned around.

“Looking good, Tony,” Gibbs greeted with a smile.

“Getting there,” Tony responded and held out the six pack of beer as well as a bottle of bourbon. “Didn’t think you’d be the kind of man who drank wine.”

Gibbs chuckled as he took the beer and the hardwood. He looked at the bottle. “Good choice,” he said with a grin. “Thank you.”

Tony nodded as he followed Gibbs from the living room deeper into the house. The kitchen was small, didn’t look like it got used much, but it felt cozy. “Something I can help with?”

“Yeah, grab the steaks from the fridge. Gibbs grabbed what appeared to be a couple of potatoes wrapped in foil and headed back to the living room.

Tony took the steaks as requested. He frowned when he found Gibbs once again on his knees in front of the fireplace. “Want to tell me where you’re planning on grilling these?” He held the dish up.

“In here.” Gibbs tapped on the side of the fireplace.

“Here?” Tony asked, confused.

“Yeah, right here.” Gibbs stood up and took the dish with the steaks from Tony. “Don’t need any fancy sort of grill to make food. Only need some good wood and a steady fire.”

Tony watched as Gibbs tossed the potatoes into the coals and then placed the steaks on a small grill.

“You do this often?”

“I try to.” Gibbs turned and saw that Tony was still on his feet. “Sit, you want a beer?”

“Thank you. And a beer sounds good.”

Gibbs hummed, disappeared and came back with two beers. He handed Tony one. He sat down next to Tony on the couch. “I meant what I said earlier, you’re looking good.” He let his gaze travel over Tony’s body.

“Thank you.” Tony hoped Gibbs didn’t notice the blush he had on his cheeks. He’d seen the look in Gibbs eyes.

“I heard you started your job?”

Tony smiled. “I did. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do.” He’d taken a job with Homeland Security. He stood at the head of the newly formed International Arms Dealing division, which dealt with the illicit trade of arms and ammunition on a worldwide scale.

“And you also got headhunted quite a bit in that same period of time.”

“True.” He’d been wooed by all the alphabet agencies he could think of, including a few he didn’t even know existed. Tony didn’t ask how Gibbs knew about all the job offers. He had a feeling the man had eyes and ears everywhere.

“And how did your first case go?”

Tony shook his head. “I have a feeling you already know that answer, Gibbs.”

Gibbs grinned. “Brent said I should try small talk. It’s difficult.”

Tony burst out laughing. It turned into a nasty cough, which he struggled to get under control. When he finally got his breath back, Gibbs stared at him with concern.

“You okay?”

Tony nodded as he cleared his throat. He took a swallow of his beer. “Just need to remember that laughing is still on the list of things I’m not supposed to do with enthusiasm.”

Gibbs snorted. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He got up to turn the steaks and then took his seat next to Tony again.

“What about kissing?”

“Kissing?” It wasn’t a question he’d expected.

“Yeah, kissing. Is that something you’re allowed to do with enthusiasm?”

“It’s been a while since I tried kissing in all honesty. But I can’t see how it can be a problem.” The tip of Tony’s tongue traced his lips.

“As long as you keep on breathing.”

Tony nodded. “Agreed, as long as I keep on breathing.”

Gibbs leaned in and gently pressed his lips against Tony’s. He pulled back and when he saw Tony’s smile, he leaned forward and brushed his lips over Tony’s for a second time. He kept the kiss gently and made sure Tony was all right with it. Gibbs groaned as Tony’s hands circled around his head and pulled him closer.

“I’m not gonna break,” Tony whispered in his ear.

Gibbs needed no further invitation. He pressed his lips hard against Tony’s and deepened the kiss. Tony’s lips parted beneath his, and he pushed inwards. He groaned as Tony arched up against him. The kiss became more intense as Tony pressed even closer. Gibbs’ body loosened up from a tension he didn’t even know existed as he wrapped his arms around Tony’s back to hold the man close to him.

They continued to kiss, exploring each other with touch and taste. Gibbs nipped at Tony’s throat and his cock throbbed at the sounds of anticipation Tony made as his hands moved lower, while his lips, teeth and tongue kept Tony on edge.

What seemed like eons later, but were in fact mere minutes, they drew back from each other. Tony’s lips were red and swollen. He was out of breath and his eyes sparkled with intent.

Gibbs pressed his forehead against Tony as they breathed together. He already wanted to kiss Tony again. He cleared his throat. “I need to check on the steaks.”

Tony nodded in agreement. “Good idea.” He moved back but stopped when Gibbs pulled him back into his embrace.

“Fuck the steak, we can get pizza later.” Gibbs grinned. “For now, I only want to kiss you.”

Tony nodded. “Pizza later sounds good, kissing now sounds better.” He leaned in and let Gibbs capture his mouth again in a crushing kiss, taking both of their breaths away, but instead of stopping, they continued to kiss and explore.

They never got to order pizza, but Gibbs did serve Tony breakfast in bed the following morning, before they went back to their favorite activity – kissing.

**THE END**

[ ](https://imgur.com/zTK3wMq)


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